Which to use
“obese” is an adjective and “obeyed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,573
- “obese” frequency rank
- #28,312
- “obeyed” frequency rank
- 39885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obese | obeyed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more than 20% (for men) or 25% (for women) over their conventionally ideal weight determined by height and build; or, having a body mass index over 30 kg/m². | simple past and past participle of obey |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obese and obeyed apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obese is /oʊˈbis/ while obeyed is /əʊˈbeɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obese is recorded at frequency rank #11,573, classified as anadj, pronounced /oʊˈbis/. obeyed is at rank #28,312, tagged as averb, pronounced /əʊˈbeɪd/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 39885, this pair ranks #272,595 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obese vs obeyed
Shared letters: beo. Private to "obese": s. Private to "obeyed": dy.
"obese" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "obeyed" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obese" and "obeyed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "obese" or "obeyed"?
Remembering obese vs obeyed
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “obese”; for a verb, it's “obeyed”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obese” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable