Obadiah

Name: Obadiah, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/

//ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə// name

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“Obadiah” is uncommon English (frequency #61,673 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,673
frequency rank, English: 15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh.

Key facts for Obadiah
Property	Value
Headword	Obadiah
Language	English
Part of speech	Proper noun
IPA	/ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#61,673
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Obadiah” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Obadiah lands here:

#61,673

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Obadiah is uncommon English at frequency #61,673 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Obadiah in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Hebrew עובדיה (Ovadya, “servant of Yahweh”); comparable to Arabic عبد اللّٰه (ʕabd-allah, “servant of God”). The correct English form is Obadiah, spelled O-B-A-D-I-A-H.

Definition

1
A book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh.
2
A minor prophet.
3
A male given name from Hebrew, of biblical origin.

Etymology

From Hebrew עובדיה (Ovadya, “servant of Yahweh”); comparable to Arabic عبد اللّٰه (ʕabd-allah, “servant of God”).

This word in other languages

Abdías(Español)Abdias(Français)Obadja(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Obadiah"?

"Obadiah" is spelled O-B-A-D-I-A-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/.

What does "Obadiah" mean?

As a proper noun, "Obadiah" means: A book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh.

How do you pronounce "Obadiah"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Obadiah" is /ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "Obadiah"?

From Hebrew עובדיה (Ovadya, “servant of Yahweh”); comparable to Arabic عبد اللّٰه (ʕabd-allah, “servant of God”). See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “Obadiah”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is O-B-A-D-I-A-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.