obey
verb
Simple meaning
To follow rules or instructions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohbaySay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
oʊˈbeɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
intransitive
To do as one is told.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
Used this way, obey is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use obey
- “Children should always obey their parents and teachers for their own safety.”verb
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: to do as ordered by (a person
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.