obedient

[oh-bee-dee-uhnt]

adjective

1. obeying or willing to obey; complying with or submissive to authority.

   an obedient son.

   Synonyms: respectful, deferential, yielding, tractable, docile, compliant
   Antonyms: recalcitrant

obedient

/ əˈbiːdɪənt /

adjective

1. obeying or willing to obey

Other Word Forms

• obediently adverb
• overobedient adjective
• overobediently adverb
• preobedient adjective
• preobediently adverb
• quasi-obedient adjective
• quasi-obediently adverb
• superobedient adjective
• superobediently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of obedient¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin oboedient- (stem of oboediēns ), present participle of oboedīre to obey; -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of obedient¹

C13: from Old French, from Latin oboediens, present participle of oboedīre to _obey

Example Sentences

Jon Stewart ended Thursday by hosting a special “government-approved” edition of “The Daily Show,” identifying himself as its “patriotically obedient host.”

Read more on Salon

Stewart leaned heavy into irony from the start of the show, saying it is now the “all new, government-approved” version, and was introduced as the evening’s “patriotically obedient host.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much," Sister Bernadette said.

Read more on BBC

Then he equated being enslaved to a white man to being an obedient servant of Jesus.

Read more on Salon

"He's more obedient than a dog... If only more of these dumb ones come along," boasts a woman in a new video game that has fuelled a debate on sexism in China.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• attentive 
• compliant 
• deferential 
• devoted 
• docile 
• dutiful 
• faithful 
• law-abiding 
• loyal 
• respectful 
• subservient