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

Give them permission to obey any instinct they may have to leave, and then watch them stay to build a world with you.

From Los Angeles Times

Specifically, the researchers tested whether their hypothesized mathematical rules were obeyed by the structures in the database, which guided them toward principles that known structures were highly likely to follow.

From Science Daily

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

From BBC

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

From Salon

Streams of lies are not just lies to be fact-checked, but an accelerant that impacts people’s brains, causing moral disengagement, allowing people to abandon their own decision-making and obey.

From Salon

Related Words

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