obtrusive

What it means

1. figurativelyOf a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also, ostentatious.

   The office manager is an unpleasantly obtrusive individual.

   1 more example

   Her vertue and the conſcience of her worth, / That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won, / Not obvious, not obtruſive, but retir'd, / The more deſirable, […]

   1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1139–1142

   Synonyms: intrusive, overassertive, overbearing, sharp-elbowed, authoritarian, autocratic, bossy, coercive · Antonyms: inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive

2. figurativelyOf a thing: noticeable or prominent, especially in a displeasing way.

   He has an obtrusive forehead.

   2 more examples

   Thus it was that, year by year, Boss McGinty's diamond pins became more obtrusive, his gold chains more weighty across a more gorgeous vest, and his saloon stretched farther and farther, until it threatened to absorb one whole side of the Market Square.

   1914 September – 1915 May, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Bodymaster”, in The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 27 February 1915, →OCLC, part II (The Scowrers), pages 194–195

   But there was a third principal in this primitive drama, the wife of Essenden, a woman of great energy, great possessiveness and obtrusive helpfulness.

   1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Melodramatic Interlude”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, 4th book (The Modern State Militant), page 338

   Synonyms: in-your-face, ostentatious · Antonyms: discreet, inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive

3. obsoleteProtruding or sticking out, especially in a way that obstructs.

   The facade of the building was ornamented with obtrusive sculpted designs.

   Synonyms: bulging, jutting, bulging, exserted, extuberant, jutting, outstanding, projecting · Antonyms: inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive

In a sentence

The office manager is an unpleasantly obtrusive individual.

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*trewd-“to push; to thrust”
2. Latinobtrūsus
3. Englishobtrusive

PIE word *h₁epi From Latin obtrūsus + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of’, forming adjectives). Obtrūsus is the perfect passive participle of obtrūdō, a variant of obstrūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust against or into”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + trūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)).