oblige
/əˈblaɪd͡ʒ/verb
oblige is spelled O-B-L-I-G-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, oblige means “To constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in oblige?
| Letters | 6: O-B-L-I-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is oblige?
Oblige appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th 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 oblige?
- /əˈblaɪd͡ʒ/
- /əˈbliːd͡ʒ/
- /ɒˈbliːd͡ʒ/
Oblige has 2 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-oblige.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of oblige
- obliges present, singular, he/she/it
- obliging participle, present
- obliged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oblige mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To constrain someone by force or by social, moral or legal means.
Your carelessness obliges firmness on my part.
- 2
To do (someone) a service or favour (hence, originally, creating an obligation).
He obliged me by not parking his car in the drive.
- 3
To cause somebody to feel indebted.
I am much obliged to you for your recent help.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Oblige in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | imposer, obliger , rendre service à , être redevable à |
| German | verpflichten , einen Gefallen tun |
| Portuguese | obrigar |
| Spanish | obligar , favorecer, complacer, serviciar |
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 oblige come from?
From Middle English obligen, from Old French obligier, obliger, from Latin obligō, obligāre, from ob- + ligō. Doublet of obligate, taken straight from Latin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).