O.B.E.

American  

abbreviation

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

2. Order of the British Empire.

---

OBE British  

abbreviation

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

2. out-of-body experience

---

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

John Oliver, the late-night television host, said in an interview on the NBC show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that he had rejected the O.B.E. because it was “loaded.”

From New York Times

Mr. Cumming, the host of the American version of the reality competition show “The Traitors,” joins a tradition of people rejecting the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or O.B.E., and similar honors, such as knighthoods or damehoods.

From New York Times

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

“Of course I am right. If ‘Jason Taylor’ was the name here, and not ‘Eliot Bolivar Ph.D., O.B.E., R.I.P., B.B.C.’”—she biffed the page with “Hangman” on it—“the truth will make the greatest mortification with the hairy barbarians of Black Swan Green, yes?”

From Literature