Word family noun obedience ≠ disobedience adjective obedient ≠ disobedient verb obey ≠ disobey adverb obediently ≠ disobediently
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishobediento‧be‧di‧ent /əˈbiːdiənt/ ●○○ adjective 1 OBEYalways doing what you are told to do, or what the law, a rule etc says you must do OPP disobedient an obedient childobedient to citizens who are obedient to the lawRegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that a child is good rather than obedient:The children were all very good.2 → your obedient servant —obediently adverbExamples from the Corpus
obedient• Is being faithful the same thing as being obedient?• Once more Joseph is obedient and sets out for his own country.• Fortunately Scott was reasonably obedient as long as some one kept a close watch over him.• Have you ever thought, ruefully, that far from raising an obedient child you've become an obedient parent?• As an example of unconscious wealth Ely cited an obedient, diligent, and faithful son.• Bruno was a quiet and obedient little boy.• As I always saw him, my son was a gentle, obedient soul.• Edmund was a cheerful and obedient student.• Research shows that pupils who are good at maths tend to be more conformist and obedient than other pupils.• With humility she managed to convince her husband that she was obedient to his every wish.• The majority of people were obedient to the King, not questioning his government.• They could be expected to be as obedient to the workers as they had been to the capitalists.Origin obedient (1200-1300) Old French Latin, present participle of oboedire; → OBEY 