obnoxiousEnglishOxford Dictionary of Englishobnoxious /əbˈnɒkʃəs / ▸ adjective extremely unpleasant: obnoxious odours he found her son somewhat obnoxious. – DERIVATIVES obnoxiously /əbˈnɒkʃəsli / adverb obnoxiousness /əbˈnɒkʃəsnəs / noun– ORIGIN late 16th century (in the sense ‘vulnerable to harm’): from Latin obnoxiosus, from obnoxius ‘exposed to harm’, from ob- ‘towards’ + noxa ‘harm’. The current sense, influenced by noxious, dates from the late 17th century.