obedience
/ə(ʊ)ˈbiːdɪəns/
"obedience" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obedience” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,012 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,012
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The quality of being obedient.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obedience |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ə(ʊ)ˈbiːdɪəns/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #15,012 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obedience” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for obedience is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ə(ʊ)ˈbiːdɪəns/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,012 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for obedience, with forms such as "boedience", "obbedience", and "obdeience". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "obedient", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English obedience, from Anglo-Norman obedience, from Old French obedience (modern French obédience), from Latin oboedientia. Displaced native Old English hīersumnes (compare modern English hearsomeness). Cognate with obeisance. The correct English form is obedience, spelled O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1The quality of being obedient.
- 2The collective body of persons subject to any particular authority.
- 3A written instruction from the superior of an order to those under him.
- 4Any official position under an abbot's jurisdiction.
Etymology
From Middle English obedience, from Anglo-Norman obedience, from Old French obedience (modern French obédience), from Latin oboedientia. Displaced native Old English hīersumnes (compare modern English hearsomeness). Cognate with obeisance.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: boedience,obbedience,obdeience,obeddience,obedeince,obediance,obediecne,obediencce,obedienec,obediennce,obedinece,obeidence,oebdience
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obedience - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "obedience"?
What does "obedience" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "obedience"?
How do you pronounce "obedience"?
What is the origin of the word "obedience"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “obedience”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ə(ʊ)ˈbiːdɪəns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “obedient” - see the side-by-side comparison. obedience vs obedient
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.