ob-

prefix

Against; facing; a combining prefix found in verbs of Latin origin.

Similar
anti-counter-contra-dys-
OriginLatin ob- →
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Meanings

ob-1

prefix
  1. idiomaticAgainst; facing; a combining prefix found in verbs of Latin origin.

    Synonyms: anti-, counter-, contra-, dys-

  2. biologyOf a reversed shape.

ob-2

prefix
  1. InternethumorousinformalObligatory; prepended to the name of a topic being mentioned to avoid accusations of being off-topic.

    Aren't Newcastle's chairman Sunderland supporters? (From the way they acted?) Erm...obspeccy? Tynesoft, eh? What happened to them?

    1998, Peter Thomas, “FAQ: more info request”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet)
    2 more examples

    ObGoth: Uh, well, it's like this you see, <searches in random file o' obgoth things> anyone out there got the new CoX album on Tess? If so which album is it *most* like?

    1998, Haydn Black, “lesbian goths”, in alt.gothic (Usenet)

    ObLinux: SAP were giving away a free development environment for use with RedHat v6.1 recently, a distinctly non-free complete system has been available for a while. This offers another example of a commercial application where the vendors now have sufficient confidence in Linux to release a port (even if it is distribution-specific).

    2000, Dan Glover, “Introduction to Linux article for commentary”, in alt.linux (Usenet)

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixAgainst; facing; a combining prefix found in verbs of Latin origin.

Similar
anti-counter-contra-dys-
Also see
contra-counter-

Origin

ob- · prefix

  1. Latinob-
  2. Englishob-

From Latin ob-.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

ob- · prefix

Clipping of obligatory.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ob-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ob-

MLA

“ob-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ob-. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ob-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ob-.

Source: ob- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.