obligeance

\ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\

/\ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\/ noun

The verdict

“obligeance” is uncommon French (frequency #60,995 among 1,642 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,995
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Disposition à se montrer obligeant, serviable.

Corpus desk

Index FR-obligeance · obligeance · French

obligeance · rank #60,995 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,995
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH objecter

Nearest frequency peer: objecter (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « obligeance »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « obligeance » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for obligeance
PropertyValue
Headwordobligeance
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\
Letters10
Frequency rank#60,995
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « obligeance » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).obligeancetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « objecter » (#60,994), « ocarina » (#60,996), « OFCE » (#60,997). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « obligeance » est au #60,995. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

obligeance is uncommon French at frequency #60,995 among 1,642 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Disposition à se montrer obligeant, serviable.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for obligeance, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is obligeance, spelled O-B-L-I-G-E-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Disposition à se montrer obligeant, serviable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how obligeance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Il eut le soin de se faire donner, par le Directeur-général des Postes, un mot qui recommandait silence et obligeance au directeur du Havre.
  2. Sur le seuil de leur porte, je remerciai mes voituriers de leur obligeance, et, ayant glissé un écu de six livres dans la main de leur fils, je me dirigeai vers la Croix-aux- Bois en coupant au plus court par les gaulis de Thénorgues et de Briquenay

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "obligeance"?
"obligeance" is spelled O-B-L-I-G-E-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\.
What does "obligeance" mean?
As a noun, "obligeance" means: Disposition à se montrer obligeant, serviable.
How do you pronounce "obligeance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obligeance" is \ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "obligeance" come from?
"obligeance" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "obligeance", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list