Oblige

//əˈblaɪd͡ʒ// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means. transitive

    "I am obliged to report to the police station every week."

  2. 2
    bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted wordnet
  3. 3
    To do (someone) a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation). intransitive, transitive

    "He obliged me by not parking his car in the drive."

  4. 4
    provide a service or favor for someone wordnet
  5. 5
    To be indebted to someone. intransitive

    "I am obliged to you for your recent help."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    force somebody to do something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
compelabetaccommodateaccommodateactuateaid

Example

More examples

"The laws oblige all citizens to pay taxes."

Etymology

From Middle English obligen, from Old French obligier, obliger, from Latin obligō, obligāre, from ob- + ligō. Doublet of obligate, taken straight from Latin.

Related phrases

much obligednoblesse oblige

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.