as in obedient
readily giving in to the command or authority of another
the law-abiding citizens of the neighborhood did everything they could to help reduce street crime
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Recent Examples of law-abiding
These tax-paying, law-abiding Black women are up late at night, figuring out how to make a dollar out of 15 cents to pay their mortgage and up early the next morning praying for God to bless their job search.
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Sheletta Brundidge, Twin Cities, 15 Oct. 2025
Getaway cars very rarely are known for their safe, law-abiding driving.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
Insist that the federal government deploy those resources to get the violent offenders who are killing, assaulting and robbing law-abiding citizens on the city’s South and West sides.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country.
—Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for law-abiding
Recent Examples of Synonyms for law-abiding
obedient
Adjective
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The generals reduced even their limited need for an obedient prime minister.—
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Since Francoism promoted an image of women as obedient wives and self-sacrificing mothers devoted to the Catholic family model, Republican women were demonized as immoral, dangerous and unworthy of motherhood.—
Cite this Entry
“Law-abiding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/law-abiding. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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