Synonyms for efface
Most common
All synonyms
Verb
obliterate, erase, rub out, expunge, blot out, annihilate, eradicate, wipe out, wipe off, blot, raze, scratch out, cancel, strike out, delete, score out, race, dele, sponge, extirpate
Definitions
- v. 1
To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.
Do not efface what I've written on the chalkboard.
Related words
- Word family
- effaceable effacement
Forms
- Past participle
- effaced
e.g. effaced → obliterated, erased, expunged, annihilated…
Choose the right word
Cancel, efface, erase, expunge, and obliterate have as their first meaning the removal of written characters or other forms of record.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- erase He used a piece of paper to erase the whiteboard.
- obliterate It's time to obliterate those walls of yours!
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| efface | rising | |
| erase | rising | |
| obliterate | steady | |
| expunge | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- race1, blot1, raze1, dele
- 5 letters
- erase2
- 6 letters
- cancel2, delete2, sponge1
- 7 letters
- expunge2
- 9 letters
- eradicate4, extirpate3
- 10 letters
- annihilate4, obliterate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (erase2 = 2 syllables).