as in to follow
to act according to the commands of
she taught her dog to obey her when she said "Sit!" most people obey the law and wear their seat belts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of obey
That is, service members subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice have a duty to not obey unlawful orders.
—
Joshua Kastenberg, The Conversation, 16 Dec. 2025
There has to be among the people an ability to obey the law and to know right from wrong.
—NBC news, 14 Dec. 2025
Classical objects obey this inequality, while quantum objects can violate it because their properties at different times are unusually strongly connected.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 13 Dec. 2025
Read and obey all signs, warnings, and hazard markings.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obey
follow
Verb
-
Playing Queen Charlotte brought her presence back to film following the height of her television fame with Prime Suspect.—
-
Our job is to find the right level that's fair, that creates the right type of precedent that people can follow after.—
Cite this Entry
“Obey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obey. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
