obligation
/ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/noun
obligation is spelled O-B-L-I-G-A-T-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is abligation: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 68 of all searches for the word. Obligation is a noun meaning “The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone”. The plural of obligation is obligations.
How many letters and syllables are in obligation?
| Letters | 10: O-B-L-I-G-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, abligation, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell obligation?
Obligation is spelled O-B-L-I-G-A-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 68 of the searches for obligation in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is obligation?
Obligation appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th 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 obligation?
- UK /ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/
- US /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/
- US /ˌɑ.bləˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/
Obligation has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-obligation.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with obligation?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as obligation from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃn/):
- information
- formation
- preparation
- presentation
- relation
- identification
- observation
- variation
- simulation
- notification
- calculation
- reconciliation
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 obligation
- obligations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obligation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone.
- 2
A social, legal, or moral requirement, duty, contract, or promise that compels someone to follow or avoid a particular course of action.
I feel I'm under obligation to attend my sister's wedding, even though we have a very frosty relationship.
- 3
A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which someone is bound or restricted.
- 4
A legal agreement stipulating a specified action or forbearance by a party to the agreement; the document containing such agreement.
- 5
Reason for being obliged to, that is, grateful for, something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obligation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obligation |
| German | Verpflichtung, Pflicht |
| Portuguese | obrigação , compromisso |
| Spanish | obligación , compromiso , deber |
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 obligation come from?
From Middle English obligacioun, from Old French obligacion, from Latin obligatio, obligationem, from obligatum (past participle of obligare), from ob- (“to”) + ligare (“to bind”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).