obey

1 of 2

verb

ō-ˈbā 

ə-

obeyed; obeying

transitive verb

1

: to follow the commands or guidance of

He always obeys his parents.

2

: to conform to or comply with

obey an order

Falling objects obey the laws of physics.

intransitive verb

: to behave obediently

The dog does not always obey.

obeyer noun

obeyer

2 of 2

noun

obey·​er

-ə(r)

plural -s

: one that obeys

Synonyms of obey

Verb

• follow

Examples of obey in a Sentence

Verb

His dog has learned to obey several commands.

He always obeys his parents.

The children must obey the rules.

The children must learn to obey.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failure to obey a traffic device. — Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 21 Oct. 2026

Light that’s sufficiently bright and traveling through matter doesn’t obey the superposition principle. — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

If the company chooses to obey, the Chinese might retaliate with the denial of crucial rare-earth metals. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Additional transcripts revealed the Kazakhstan Airlines crew never confirmed to the controller that the aircraft had received or obeyed the instructions to maintain 15,000 feet. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 16 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English obeien, borrowed from Anglo-French obeir, going back to Latin oboedīre, from ob- "toward, in the direction of" + -oedīre, probably unstressed form (with -oe- of uncertain origin) of audīre "to hear" — more at ob-, audible entry 1

Note: The -oe- in oboedīre is peculiar both because it is not the expected result of -au- in a non-initial syllable (the regular outcome is -ū-) and because -oe- is in any case rare non-initially. Various attempts have been made to account for the irregularity. Reflecting earlier suggestions, Michiel de Vaan hypothesizes pre-Latin *ób-awizdijō > *obowizdijō > *oboizdijō (rounding of a before w, which is then lost, prior to the weakening of a to u) > oboediō (with z blocking monophthongization of -oi- to -ū- before succumbing to cluster reduction) (see Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Brill, 2008). As an alternative to assumptions of questionable phonetic change, it has also been suggested that a base other than audīre is at issue (Michael Weiss suggests *ob-b^hoi̯diō, from a nominal derivative of the base of fīdere "to trust" [see faith entry 1]; see Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd edition, Ann Arbor, 2020, p. 130).

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for obey

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• assez
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway

Kids Definition

obey

verb

ō-ˈbā 

ə-

obeyed; obeying

1

a

: to follow the commands or guidance of

obeyed her parents

b

: to be obedient

trained the dog to obey

2

: to act in agreement with : carry out

obey an order

obey the rules