obey
/oʊˈbeɪ/verb
obey is spelled O-B-E-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, obey means “To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in obey?
| Letters | 4: O-B-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is obey?
Obey appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce obey?
- UK /əʊˈbeɪ/
- UK /əˈbeɪ/
- US /oʊˈbeɪ/
Obey has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-obey.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with obey?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as obey from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of obey
- obeys present, singular, he/she/it
- obeying participle, present
- obeyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
obey the rules
- 2
To do as one is told.
Soldiers are trained to obey.
- 3
obsoleteTo be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obéir, obtempérer |
| German | gehorchen , befolgen |
| Portuguese | obedecer |
| Spanish | obedecer , acatar, atenerse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does obey come from?
From Middle English obeyen, from Anglo-Norman obeir, obeier et al., Old French obeir, from Latin oboediō (also obēdiō (“to listen to, harken, usually in extended sense, obey, be subject to, serve”)), from ob- (“before, near”) + audiō (“to hear”). Compare audient. In Latin, ob + audire would have been expected to become Classical Latin *obūdiō (compare in + claudō becoming inclūdō), but it has been theorized that the usual law court associations of the word for obeying encouraged a false archaism from ū to oe, to oboediō (compare Old Latin oinos → Classical Latin ūnus).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).