obey

[ oh-bey ]

verb (used with object)

1. to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of:

   to obey one's parents.

2. to comply with or follow (a command, restriction, wish, instruction, etc.).
3. (of things) to respond conformably in action to:

   The car obeyed the slightest touch of the steering wheel.

4. to submit or conform in action to (some guiding principle, impulse, one's conscience, etc.).

verb (used without object)

1. to be obedient:

   to agree to obey.

obey

/ əˈbeɪ /

verb

1. to carry out (instructions or orders); comply with (demands)
2. to behave or act in accordance with (one's feelings, whims, etc)

Derived Forms

• oˈbeyer, noun

Other Words From

• o·beya·ble adjective
• o·beyer noun
• o·beying·ly adverb
• uno·beyed adjective
• uno·beying adjective
• well-o·beyed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of obey¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English obeien, from Old French obeir, from Latin oboedīre, equivalent to ob- ob- + audīre “to hear”; -oe- for expected -ū- is unclear

Word History and Origins

Origin of obey¹

C13: from Old French obéir, from Latin oboedīre, from ob- to, towards + audīre to hear

Example Sentences

And the operatives could depend on one hard-edged principle: that those who style themselves as men of the world know there is an iron fist in every velvet glove, understand what might await them in the shadows and so, having decided to play the game, they will obey its rules.

From Salon

Nobody can pick or choose which laws or which injunctions they obey, or which they do not.

From BBC

Harris said the Kelly interview, along with the “enemy from within” comments, show that Trump wants a military that would be more akin to a “personal militia” that is loyal to him personally and would “obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States.”

From Los Angeles Times

“McConnell runs the largest Republican super PAC in the country and has $400 million,” Cruz said, “but that super PAC is used to reward the Republican senators who obey him and to punish those who dare to stand up to him.”

From Slate

‘Well, he didn't actually, people didn't obey him,’ right?

From Salon

Related Words

• accept
• adhere to
• carry out
• comply
• embrace
• execute
• heed
• live by
• observe
• surrender