- legally, morally, or socially binding; constituting, or having the nature of, an obligation (sense ); required
- Biol. obligate
Origin of obligatory
Late Latin obligatorius
adjective
- When someone waves at you and you feel like you have to wave back because social system says you do in order to be polite, the return wave is an example of an obligatory wave.
- When the law requires you to stop at a red light, this is an example of a time when stopping is obligatory.
The definition of obligatory is necessary, required or expected as a result of law or social custom.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"obligatory." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 08 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory>.
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obligatory. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory
obligatory
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"obligatory." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 08 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory>.
APA Style
obligatory. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory
obligatory
adjective
- Of the nature of an obligation; compulsory: Attendance is obligatory. Mathematics is an obligatory course.
- Required as part of a routine course of action or cultural expectation; predictable: “wearing clothing like basketball shoes, baggy pants, and the obligatory baseball cap” ( Tyler Stovall )
- Biology Obligate.
Related Forms:
- o·blig′a·to′ri·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"obligatory." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 08 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory>.
APA Style
obligatory. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory
Adjective
(comparative more obligatory, superlative most obligatory)
- Imposing obligation, morally or legally; binding: an obligatory promise.
- Requiring a matter or obligation.
Origin
From Latin obligare obligate, from ob- to + ligare to bind, from Proto-Indo-European *leig- to bind.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"obligatory." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 08 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory>.
APA Style
obligatory. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory
obligatory - Medical Definition
adj.
Biology Obligate.
Related Forms:
- o·blig′a·to′ri·ly
adv.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine © 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"obligatory." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 08 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory>.
APA Style
obligatory. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Obligatory
Sentence Examples
- But the development of modern culture has rendered these exploits of an unbridled fanaticism impossible, and no government would consent to enforce the once obligatory sentences of ecclesiastical courts.
- By a law passed in 1868 attendance at school is obligatory on all children between the ages of 6 and 12 years.
- Fasts, obligatory on all above seven years of age, are held on every Monday and Thursday, on every new moon, and at the passover (the 21st or 22nd of April).
- He grunted, slipping an obligatory arm around her.
- Allied with the Liberals against the orthodox Protestants, who were threatening religious liberty, the Catholics assisted in 1857 to establish a system of non-sectarian state schools, where attendance is not obligatory nor instruction gratuitous.
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Words near obligatory in the dictionary
- obligatory
- obligator
- obligatorily
- obligatoriness