Meanings
present singular third person obliges · participle present obliging · participle past obliged · past obliged
- transitiveTo constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means.
Your carelessness obliges firmness on my part.
2 more examples
I am obliged to report to the police station every week.
Tho' he was some time awake before me, yet did he not offer to disturb a repose he had given me so much occasion for; but on my first stirring, which was not till past ten o'clock, I was oblig'd to endure one more trial of his manhood.
Fanny Hill
1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLCSynonyms: necessitate
- intransitivetransitiveTo do (someone) a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation).
The singer obliged(us) with an encore.
3 more examples
He obliged me by not parking his car in the drive.
In the mean time I have another trouble to give you, if you will oblige me in it; and that is to get me a sight of the famous Orrery, which I have heard you and others so often speak of; and which I think was made by Mr. Rowley, the famous Mathematical Instrument-Maker.
1719, John Harris, Astronomical dialogues between a gentleman and a lady, page 151They also asked to dive as a buddy pair rather than with an instructor. Considering their previous experience of more than 80 logged dives each, the crew obliged.
2026 July 28, Nicholas Muhoro, “The Open Water True Story: How Tom and Eileen Lonergan Were Left Behind at Sea”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 29 Jul 2026Synonyms: accommodate
- transitiveTo cause somebody to feel indebted.
I am much obliged to you for your recent help.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means.
verbTo do (someone) a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation).
More synonyms by meaning
verbprovide a service or favor for someone
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinobligō, obligāre
- Old Frenchobligier
- Middle Englishobligen
- Englishoblige
From Middle English obligen, from Old French obligier, obliger, from Latin obligō, obligāre, from ob- + ligō. Doublet of obligate, taken straight from Latin.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian задължавам, правя услуга
- задължавам (zadălžavam)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- правя услуга (pravja usluga)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- услужвам (uslužvam)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- услужа (usluža)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- задължен съм (zadălžen săm)to be indebted to someone
Catalan obligar
- obligarto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Chinese Mandarin 强迫, 幫忙 /帮忙
- 强迫 (qiǎngpò)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- 幫忙 /帮忙 (bāngmáng)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
Danish forpligte
- forpligteto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Dutch verplichten, een plezier doen
- verplichtento constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- een plezier doento do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- plezierento do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
Finnish velvoittaa, pakottaa
- velvoittaato constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- pakottaato constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- tehdä palvelusto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- olla velassato be indebted to someone
French imposer, obliger
- imposerto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- obligerto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- rendre service àto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- obligerto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- être redevable àto be indebted to someone
German verpflichten, einen Gefallen tun
- verpflichtento constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- einen Gefallen tunto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
Greek υποχρεώνω, είμαι ευγνώμων
- υποχρεώνω (ypochreóno)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- είμαι ευγνώμων (eímai evgnómon)to be indebted to someone
Hungarian kötelez, lekötelez
- kötelezto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- lekötelezto be indebted to someone
Italian obbligare, forzare
- obbligareto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- forzareto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- costringereto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- fare un favoreto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- indebitarsito do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
Japanese 義務付ける, 世話をする
- 義務付ける (gimuzukeru)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- 世話をする (sewa o suru)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- サービスする (sābisu suru)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- 恩義がある (ongi ga aru)to be indebted to someone
- 世話になる (sewa ni naru)to be indebted to someone
Norwegian Bokmål forplikte
- forplikteto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Polish zobowiązywać, zobowiązać
- zobowiązywaćto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- zobowiązaćto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Portuguese obrigar
- obrigarto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Romanian obliga
- obligato constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Russian обя́зывать, обяза́ть
- обя́зывать (objázyvatʹ)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- обяза́ть (objazátʹ)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- де́лать одолже́ние (délatʹ odolžénije)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- сде́лать одолже́ние (sdélatʹ odolžénije)to do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- быть обя́занным (bytʹ objázannym)to be indebted to someone
Spanish obligar, favorecer
- obligarto constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- favorecerto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- complacerto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
- serviciarto do someone a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation)
Swedish förplikta
- förpliktato constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Ukrainian зобов'я́зувати, зобов'яза́ти
- зобов'я́зувати (zobovʺjázuvaty)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
- зобов'яза́ти (zobovʺjazáty)to constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with oblige
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
oblige. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblige
“oblige.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblige. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oblige,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblige.
Source: oblige on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.