O.B.E.

American  

abbreviation

1. Officer (of the Order) of the British Empire.

2. Order of the British Empire.

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OBE British  

abbreviation

1. Officer of the Order of the British Empire (a Brit title)

2. out-of-body experience

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Example Sentences

People routinely reject the O.B.E. and similar honors when they are first offered, including the higher honors of knighthoods and damehoods, which allow people to use the title Sir or Dame.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2023

Mr. Cumming was awarded his O.B.E. in 2009, and he wrote in an Instagram post marking his 58th birthday on Friday that he had “recently” returned the honor.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2023

In the bathroom at the back of the studio, there’s a stash of awards, including an O.B.E. from the Queen.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 28, 2016

To his post Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King promptly appointed McCarthy's assistant, Lester Bowles Pearson, O.B.E., one of the ablest men in Canada's small but expert foreign service.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of our juniors, Major Bays Waller, O.B.E., who came to us from a Control Office and who advises us on our filing, says that it is like coming from a home to a home.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-02-25 by Various