obedient

adjective

obe·​di·​ent ō-ˈbē-dē-ənt 

ə-

: submissive to the restraint or command of authority : willing to obey

an obedient child

an obedient dog

obedient to those whom he feared

—A. N. Wilson

obediently adverb

Synonyms

• amenable
• biddable
• compliant
• conformable
• docile
• law-abiding
• submissive
• tractable

Choose the Right Synonym for obedient

obedient, docile, tractable, amenable mean submissive to the will of another.

obedient implies compliance with the demands or requests of one in authority.

obedient to the government

docile implies a predisposition to submit readily to control or guidance.

a docile child

tractable suggests having a character that permits easy handling or managing.

tractable animals

amenable suggests a willingness to yield or cooperate because of a desire to be agreeable or because of a natural open-mindedness.

amenable to new ideas

Examples of obedient in a Sentence

that boy is so obedient that he does everything the first time he is asked

Recent Examples on the Web

Anyone who meets the gentle, obedient boy would never call him that. —Bebe Hodges, USA TODAY, 15 Nov. 2024

Of course, anyone who meets the gentle, obedient boy would never call him that. —Bebe Hodges, The Enquirer, 11 Nov. 2024

Feeding into Milioti’s volatile performance, her costumes chart a journey from obedient heiress to homicidal mob boss, culminating in her violent retribution against Oz in the show’s penultimate episode. —Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2024

Even so, our exercises did not suggest that any authoritarian would command a uniformly obedient federal workforce. —Barton Gellman, Washington Post, 30 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin oboedient-, oboediens, from present participle of oboedīre "to follow the commands of, submit to" — more at obey

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

obedient

adjective

obe·​di·​ent ō-ˈbēd-ē-ənt 

ə-

: willing to obey

obediently adverb