obligated 1 of 2

as in obliged
being under obligation for a favor or gift we have been their guests so many times that we feel obligated to return their hospitality

Synonyms & Similar Words

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obligated

2 of 2

verb

past tense of obligate

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of obligated
Adjective
The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions including what the legal basis would be for rescinding obligated funding. Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 8 Aug. 2025
Verb
Nessel and officials with the other states argue the agency is legally obligated to use contingency funds and other means in its control to cover SNAP benefits, which provide food assistance in the form of funds made available to low-income individuals and families via benefit cards. Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 29 Oct. 2025 The president is not obligated to follow the CFA's recommendation. Hannah Demissie, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2025 For one thing, they are typically obligated, by the venture-capital firms that fund them, to grow as quickly as possible. Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2025 Usually the artist will feel obligated to give the audience a breather with at least a couple songs that deal with something other than the central rupture, or which flash forward to assure everyone that the singer is doing all right and healing up, thank you, post-split. Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Oct. 2025 The loss could reduce services, force staff layoffs and even lead to closures, all while increasing the number of uninsured patients that these clinics are legally obligated to serve regardless of their ability to pay. Cathie Anderson, Sacbee.com, 24 Oct. 2025 After the Acting City Attorney Christopher Creech explained that the city manager and the city attorney are obligated to share their opinion about a potential violation of code, Barbadillo suggested that both the city manager and the city attorney should face a performance evaluation. Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025 Murray was already training in Denver with some of the younger Nuggets who were obligated to be in town. Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 22 Oct. 2025 The United States is obligated by its own laws to give military support to Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 during a civil war. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obligated
Verb
  • North Korea simply may no longer feel strongly compelled to say yes.
    Will Ripley, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The film, which screenwriter Rowan Joffé adapted from a 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne, seems aware of the orientalist mustiness of this premise without being compelled to subvert it in any meaningful way.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • While plenty of risks remain — Milei’s party will still be in the minority in Argentina’s national legislature, and the South American nation remains deeply indebted — for now Bessent’s risky move looks to be another win, decades after his involvement in a legendary bet against the UK pound.
    Daniel Flatley, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
  • For decades Suriname has been too small to draw global attention and too indebted to grow.
    Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • And then the occasional strip club that I was forced to go to.
    Frank DiGiacomo, Billboard, 3 Nov. 2025
  • According to Adams, Koehler forced the woman from her upstairs bedroom down to downstairs, purposely disorienting her — the basis for the kidnapping charge he was also found guilty of.
    Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Dina Skinner, 54, a single mother of a 19-year-old in Princeton was grateful to have someone buy her groceries.
    Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Chesney stays grounded, grateful and faithful, in pursuit of the simple joys in life, living largely by the mantra of his memoir, .
    Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Fans chanted for Lo LaBonta to come on, and Hayes obliged in the 67th minute, bringing the KC Current captain on for Lily Yohannes.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Member nations are collectively obliged to respond to attacks on other alliance nations under Article 5 of the founding treaty.
    Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • But Netanyahu was beholden for his political future to the radical minority that supported it, and constantly catered to their whims.
    Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Yet there’s another genre to which Hill was and continued to be equally beholden, and that’s the Hollywood musical.
    Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Detectives even allegedly coerced Rosie into signing a document implicating Frank Jordano and his father, Iorlando Jordano.
    Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
  • This is the real danger for the NBA—players who get coerced into trying to rig games.
    Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 28 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Obligated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obligated. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.

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