Word family noun obedience ≠ disobedience adjective obedient ≠ disobedient verb obey ≠ disobey adverb obediently ≠ disobediently
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishobedienceo‧be‧di‧ence /əˈbiːdiəns/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] OBEYwhen someone does what they are told to do, or what a law, rule etc says they must do OPP disobedienceobedience to obedience to Godin obedience to something He lived in obedience to the church’s teachings.blind/unquestioning/complete obedience (=complete obedience without any thought) With blind obedience, I allowed my father to organize my life. obedience classes for dogs and their ownersCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesblind obedience (=when you obey rules or a person without thinking about why)I followed my father's commands with blind obedience.unquestioning obedience (=when you obey rules or a person without questioning whether they are right)Even soldiers must not follow all orders with unquestioning obedience.absolute/complete/total obedienceThe King required absolute obedience.verbsdemand/expect obedienceParents should not demand unquestioning obedience from their children.owe somebody obedienceThe knights owed obedience to their king.swear obedienceMonks swore obedience to the pope. Examples from the Corpus
obedience• The General demanded absolute obedience from his men.• Women were bound to absolute obedience to their Promise Keeper husbands and fathers.• How then can we encourage obedience?• In a court in which obsequious obedience to the monarch was the rule.• As abbot of Bec, Anselm had owed obedience to several superiors whose permission he had sought before accepting the archbishopric.• But on the two matters on which his own personal obedience was required there was no room for compromise.• The changes are about how to discipline and the reasons for requiring obedience to certain rules.• Young children are expected to show obedience to their parents.• With young children, teaching obedience to rules requires knowledge of three matters: Does he or she know what to do?• In this capacity he was entitled to obedience from the subjects whose welfare he served.blind/unquestioning/complete obedience• The totalitarian political system demands complete obedience to its extensive rules regarding culture, economics, religion, and morality.• The covenant will be an affair of the heart, not just blind obedience to the Law.• Safety is a matter of active attention and alert work practices, not blind obedience to arbitrary rules.• I followed his commands with blind obedience, never bothering to question what his purpose might have been. 