obviate vs head off

obviate and head off both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
obviate	No	No	Yes	No
head off	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, obviate and head off are synonyms defined as:

obviate and head off: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off

Other synonyms of obviate include avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, stave off, ward off.

obviate (verb)	head off (verb)
prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off	prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off
get rid of something