obey

obey (ō bā′)

transitive verb

Etymology: ME obeien < OFr obeir < L obedire, to obey < OL oboedire < ob- (see ob-) + audire, to hear: see audience

intransitive verb

to be obedient

obey′·er noun

To act in accordance with orders
submit, answer to, respond, act, act on, bow to, surrender, yield, perform, do, carry out, attend to orders, do what one is told, accept, accord, consent, do what is expected of one, do one's duty, redeem one's pledge, do as one says, come at call, serve, concur, accede, assent, conform, acquiesce, mind, take orders, do the will of, do one's bidding, comply, fulfill, play second fiddle*; see also agree.
Antonyms rebel*, disobey*, mutiny. *
To act in accordance with a recognized principle
live by, set one's course by, accept, agree, give allegiance to, be loyal to, reconcile, adjust, accommodate to, adopt, own, make one's own, abide by, hold fast, embrace, practice, adhere to, conform to, be devoted to, be attached to, serve, exercise; see also behave 2, conform, follow 2.
Antonyms oppose*, refuse*, cast off.

Object

commandment: But then did Jesus believe in being good and obeying the commandments?
summons: The phone call was unnerving even tho I had nothing to hide, and I hastened to obey the summons.
gospel: Ro 6:17 3. Woe to those who do not " obey the gospel " - cf.
injunction: Failure to obey an injunction could result in proceedings for contempt of court.
command: The dog needs to be taught to obey commands under all conditions no matter how distracting.
law: Rule of law Everyone must obey the law of the land.

Subject

agent: These ânatural lawsâ are given by a personal lawgiver and obeyed by personal agents.

Noun phrase with adjective complement

such: Similarly, people expect you to obey signs such as ' Amenity area only.

Modifying Another Word

blindly: These are examples of the sort of order that we used to intercept - and they were blindly obeyed.
faithfully: What an encouragement it is to all of God's people when we faithfully obey the Lord, wherever he has placed us.
willingly: The West, it seems, has willingly obeyed.
promptly: In the interests of safety, failure to promptly obey marshaling directions may result in disqualification.
strictly: They should then move up toward the start only under Marshals ' instructions, which must be strictly obeyed.
instantly: His order was obeyed instantly; we left the chamber, and the door remained open.

Used with why or when

what: Bush tells Saddam: ' You are to obey what our agent in Baghdad tells you.
when: We listen to God and we obey even when it flies in the face of the current values of society.
whatever: The porters had to obey whatever the soldiers told them to do.

Preposition: without

question: He gives the impression of being someone who is used to giving orders and to having them obeyed without question.

Preposition: in

thing: If we obey God in the little things He will bring us opportunity to believe and obey in larger things.

Preposition: with

alacrity: The child obeyed with alacrity; but I continued caressing the dog.

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