obligate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bind or oblige morally or legally.
to obligate oneself to purchase a building.
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to pledge, commit, or bind (funds, property, etc.) to meet an obligation.
adjective
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morally or legally bound; obliged; constrained.
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Biology. restricted to a particular condition of life, as certain organisms that can survive only in the absence of oxygen (opposed to facultative).
obligate anaerobe.
verb
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to compel, constrain, or oblige morally or legally
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(in the US) to bind (property, funds, etc) as security
adjective
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compelled, bound, or restricted
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biology able to exist under only one set of environmental conditions Compare facultative
an obligate parasite cannot live independently of its host
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Capable of existing only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role. An obligate aerobe, such as certain bacteria, can live only in the presence of oxygen. An obligate parasite cannot survive independently of its host.
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Compare facultative
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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obligatornoun
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preobligateverb (used with object)
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reobligateverb (used with object)
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obligableadjective
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obligativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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obligatesimple
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obligatessimple
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have obligatedperfect
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has obligatedperfect
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am obligatingprogressive
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are obligatingprogressive
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is obligatingprogressive
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have been obligatingperfect progressive
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has been obligatingperfect progressive
Past
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obligatedsimple
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had obligatedperfect
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was obligatingprogressive
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were obligatingprogressive
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had been obligatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of obligate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English obligat, from Latin obligātus (past participle of obligāre “to bind”), equivalent to ob- + ligātus; see ob-, ligate
Explanation
To obligate is to either force someone to do something or be compelled to do something. You’re obligated to get to work on time if you want to keep your job. Obligating has to do with responsibilities. When you have a job, you're obligated to show up and do your work. You could also say the job obligates you to do these things. Obligate, which is about obligations (duties), can be used another way – to commit as security. Money would be obligated, or put up as security. Obligate is not the same thing as oblige, which is like doing a favor. To obligate is meaner, it means “to force.”
Vocabulary lists containing obligate
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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This Week In Words: July 11–17, 2020
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A Step from Heaven
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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:
“If additional funds are made available to State, we will work to obligate them consistent with legal requirements and Administration priorities.”
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
The risk: Intel builds upon its extraordinary gains and keeps rising, which would obligate investors to sell the stock, or to manage the short call to avoid assignment.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
My sexuality doesn’t obligate me to embrace a particular ideology or to reject the moral inheritance of the society that made my life possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Brennan & Rogers, a Maine-based law firm, says those laws obligate adult children to provide necessities such as food, clothing, housing and medical care for their parents who can’t afford to take care of themselves.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026
Please, it doesn't obligate you in any way.
From You Don't Make Wine Like the Greeks Did by Fisher, David E.
The “covered call” strategy lowers the stock purchase price by the received call premium and obligates investors to sell stock higher.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The pledge obligates actors, directors and producers not to screen films, appear in or work with what it considers complicit institutions, including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
These courts stuck with the rulebook, which obligates them to follow precedent until it’s formally overturned.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2025
And while she said her oath ethically obligates her to defend these children, she doesn’t know how the office will survive in its current form if payments don’t come in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2025
Is not the principle on which the whole of morals rests, the principle which obligates man to good and lays the foundation of virtue, of the same nature?
From Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Cousin, Victor
On the opening of the strait, the MOU obligated Iran only to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial ships with no charge for 60 days only.”
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
That’s because management is giving itself a target it feels obligated to meet, even if factors outside its control interfere with the quest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In other words, Folayan concludes, the Pasha’s reaction was logical: Since the Americans had not fulfilled their contract, he did not consider himself obligated to fulfill his.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Chevron, a Reagan-era ruling, held that judges were obligated to defer to executive agencies’ interpretations of “ambiguous” statutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
As a polar bear, Duane was not obligated to hibernate.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
A “phase one” trade deal signed in early 2020 addressed neither of those points, instead obligating China to buy more soybeans from American farmers—something Beijing largely failed to fulfill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
If you recall the myth, you may be able to guess that he’s another loved one Dream condemns to suffering, obligating the supreme being to apologize yet again.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2025
“Accordingly, the Department will not be issuing Grant Award Notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2025
“But I want consumers to know they’re still obligating themselves to these payments.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
To dream of obligating yourself in any incident, denotes that you will be fretted and worried by the thoughtless complaints of others.
From Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, or what's in a dream: a scientific and practical exposition by Miller, Gustavus Hindman
Definitions 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.
