obey
Americanverb (used with object)
-
obeys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
obeyed,
past participle, past
-
obeying
present participle
-
to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of.
to obey one's parents.
-
to comply with or follow (a command, restriction, wish, instruction, etc.).
-
(of things) to respond conformably in action to.
The car obeyed the slightest touch of the steering wheel.
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to submit or conform in action to (some guiding principle, impulse, one's conscience, etc.).
verb (used without object)
-
obeys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
obeyed,
past participle, past
-
obeying
present participle
verb
-
to carry out (instructions or orders); comply with (demands)
-
to behave or act in accordance with (one's feelings, whims, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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obeyernoun
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obeyableadjective
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unobeyedadjective
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unobeyingadjective
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well-obeyedadjective
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obeyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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obeysimple
-
obeyssimple
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have obeyedperfect
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has obeyedperfect
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am obeyingprogressive
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are obeyingprogressive
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is obeyingprogressive
-
have been obeyingperfect progressive
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has been obeyingperfect progressive
Past
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obeyedsimple
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had obeyedperfect
-
was obeyingprogressive
-
were obeyingprogressive
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had been obeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of obey
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
Explanation
When you obey, you follow someone's rules or instructions. In the old days, all of a monarchy's citizens were expected to obey the commands of their king or queen. You might be expected to obey the rules your strict parents lay down, or to obey the guidelines of a group or club you belong to. Religious Christians obey God, and soldiers obey the direct orders their commanding officers give them. To obey is to be obedient, and both words come from the Latin obedire, which literally means "listen to," but is used to mean "pay attention to."
Vocabulary lists containing obey
"Nadia the Willful"
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"Rachel the Clever"
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"The New England Primer"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Astronomers have long suspected that black holes obey the same basic physical rules even when their masses differ enormously.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
A UK government spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing US investigation, but said Britain expected foreign diplomats to obey the law.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Hubinger said Anthropic is "trying its best", but does not yet have a plan to ensure an AI system that surpasses human capabilities would obey its creators.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The president said he had no choice but to obey his security team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“King Bull Sparra spare mouse. How you like him for pet, my niece? Mouse, you obey my sister and her eggchick, funny, ha?”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The gravel bucket obeys that law, since shaking creates heat, which is disordered energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
He added that he "obeys the government and will pay it" as he didn't know the repayment was not legally required.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2025
Min-sung obeys Young-tak to ensure access to resources, but at home Myung-hwa can’t hide her disappointment in him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
Quantum mechanics background: All the matter in the universe obeys the laws of quantum theory, but we only really observe quantum behaviour at the scale of atoms and molecules.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2023
But these are the laws our planet obeys as we ourselves, glued by gravity to the surface of the Earth, hurtle through interplanetary space.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
But it was PSG who obeyed the message, delivering a third-minute hammer blow when Georgian genius Khvicha Kvaratskhelia raced down the wing before setting up Ousmane Dembele to lash a finish high past Manuel Neuer.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
He obeyed and burned the project files in a bonfire on the beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Indeed, the characteristic feature of a country ruled by law is the shared understanding that court orders will be obeyed without the necessity of employing force or other modes of coercion.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2025
“We obeyed the law and we kept the peace. And that’s not bad.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2024
She obeyed, her gaze fixed on the golden wedgies that slapped the bottom of the woman’s bulging feet as she led the way through a curtain of colored beads to the piano.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
We let ourselves blend into the algorithm, feeding and obeying the machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
They are the ones most likely to be held accountable for obeying and transmitting unlawful orders because they are the ones who had the best chance of getting those orders changed or revoked.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
It DE decides a school is not obeying the guidance it can be named and shamed.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
Increasingly, U.S. companies are worried that by obeying U.S. laws, they could run afoul of Chinese rules.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025
We proceeded to play a slow, careful game, bunting whenever we had to, sacrificing to move runners forward, obeying Mr. Galanter’s instructions.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
