Meaning & use
obedient
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Doing what you are told or following rules and orders, rather than resisting them.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an obedient dog, The class was obedient. Often followed by to.
Patterns
- be obedient to someone
- obedient to the rules
The obedient puppy sat down as soon as she said the word.
Soldiers must be obedient to their officers.
He was an obedient child who rarely argued.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Showing a willingness to submit to authority, which can sometimes suggest lacking independent judgment.
Grammar: In this critical sense, the tone is negative: obedient officials who never questioned orders.
Patterns
- blindly obedient
The committee was full of obedient clerks who never questioned a decision.
He grew tired of being the obedient son and left home.
Word forms
| comparative | more obedient |
|---|---|
| superlative | most obedient |
Common combinations
- obedient child
- The obedient child put away her toys without being asked.
- obedient dog
- An obedient dog stays by your side on a walk.
- obedient to the law
- Citizens are expected to be obedient to the law.
- blindly obedient
- He was blindly obedient to the leader.
- dutifully obedient
- The students lined up, dutifully obedient.
Synonyms and how they differ
- compliant
- Compliant is more formal and often describes following rules or requests without complaint, not necessarily out of respect.
- dutiful
- Dutiful stresses a sense of responsibility behind the behavior, while obedient only means doing as told.
- submissive
- Submissive suggests giving in completely and lacking a will of one's own, so it is more negative than obedient.
- docile
- Docile suggests being easy to manage, usually of animals or gentle people, and has little to do with rules.
Opposites
Word family
- obey verb
- to do what you are told
- obedience noun
- the habit of doing what you are told
- obediently adverb
- in a way that follows instructions
- disobedient adjective
- refusing to do as told
Commonly confused: obedient or obedience?
obedient vs obedience
Obedience is the noun for the quality, while obedient is the adjective describing a person or animal.
Practice
Which sentence uses the correct preposition?
Choose one answer.
Obedient is followed by to when naming the person or rule being obeyed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “obedient”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.