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View synonyms for obliged

obliged

[ uh-blahyjd ]

adjective

  1. bound by duty, ethics, or politeness:

    You can bring something to share at the picnic, but please don't feel obliged.

  2. forced by law, regulation, or necessity:

    All students are obliged to participate in an internship program.

  3. appreciative or grateful:

    If you could shed some light on this mystery, I'd be obliged.



verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of oblige ( def ).
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Other Words From

  • o·blig·ed·ly [uh, -, blahy, -jid-lee], adverb
  • o·blig·ed·ness noun
  • un·o·bliged adjective
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Word History and Origins

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. (very) much obliged, thank you (very much):

    Much obliged for your efforts!

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Example Sentences

Because our time on earth is so limited, it’s absurd to try to spend it doing everything you’d dreamed of, or all you feel obliged to do.

From Time

“There is a very, very cautious approach not to oblige people to get vaccinated,” says Emmanuel Rivière, director general in France of the polling agency Kantar Public.

From Fortune

None of the countries involved wanted to open the door to being obliged to take climate migrants in, Burke told me.

A critic can follow his or her own whim, from thing to thing, enthusiasm to enthusiasm, no longer obliged to pass judgment on things that aren’t of interest.

I asked Andy if I could take a jar of them back home to Los Angeles, and he obliged.

From Eater

There were times when he seemed to feel obliged to tell Alfred Hitchcock stories.

There, so taken, caught in the act, flat-footed, we are obliged to make our stand.

After each session, she would sit with those who obliged and speak to them about their past, problems and desires.

She claimed he proceeded to ask for the same, to which she happily obliged.

No soldier is obliged to obey a law contrary to the law of God.

I suppose he is sick of the sound of them, or perhaps it is because he feels obliged to be conscientious in teaching Beethoven!

The unhappy applicant was naturally obliged to temporarily retire from the game, at all events for that night.

At the latter date all artists were obliged to vacate the Sorbonne ateliers to make room for some new department of instruction.

And when he answered it, he was obliged to acknowledge that she had made upon his nature a definite impression.

That is the reason I feel obliged to return—if Mac is no longer able—or willing—to get up at night.

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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.

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