Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to oblige
Participle: obliged
Gerund: obliging
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | oblige |
| you | oblige |
| he;she;it | obliges |
| we | oblige |
| you | oblige |
| they | oblige |
Perfect
| I | have obliged |
| you | have obliged |
| he;she;it | has obliged |
| we | have obliged |
| you | have obliged |
| they | have obliged |
Past
| I | obliged |
| you | obliged |
| he;she;it | obliged |
| we | obliged |
| you | obliged |
| they | obliged |
Pluperfect
| I | had obliged |
| you | had obliged |
| he;she;it | had obliged |
| we | had obliged |
| you | had obliged |
| they | had obliged |
Future
| I | will oblige |
| you | will oblige |
| he;she;it | will oblige |
| we | will oblige |
| you | will oblige |
| they | will oblige |
Future Perfect
| I | will have obliged |
| you | will have obliged |
| he;she;it | will have obliged |
| we | will have obliged |
| you | will have obliged |
| they | will have obliged |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | oblige |
| you | oblige |
| he;she;it | oblige |
| we | oblige |
| you | oblige |
| they | oblige |
Perfect
| I | have obliged |
| you | have obliged |
| he;she;it | have obliged |
| we | have obliged |
| you | have obliged |
| they | have obliged |
Imperfect
| I | obliged |
| you | obliged |
| he;she;it | obliged |
| we | obliged |
| you | obliged |
| they | obliged |
Pluperfect
| I | had obliged |
| you | had obliged |
| he;she;it | had obliged |
| we | had obliged |
| you | had obliged |
| they | had obliged |
Conditional
Present
| I | would oblige |
| you | would oblige |
| he;she;it | would oblige |
| we | would oblige |
| you | would oblige |
| they | would oblige |
Perfect
| I | would have obliged |
| you | would have obliged |
| he;she;it | would have obliged |
| we | would have obliged |
| you | would have obliged |
| they | would have obliged |
Imperative
| you | oblige |
| we | Let's oblige |
| you | oblige |
Verbs conjugated like 'oblige'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'oblige'
lige,
obelise,
obelize,
oblate,
obligate,
oblique,
obolize,
obsign,
abegge,
abide,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- require
- bind, command, coerce, compel, constrain, force, necessitate, obligate
- assist
- accommodate, convenience, benefit, aid, favor, contribute, please, help
Antonyms
- assist
- obstruct, counteract, hinder, impede
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. 1297, "to bind by oath," from O.Fr.
obligier, from L.
obligare, from
ob "to" +
ligare "to bind," from PIE base
*leig- "to bind" (see ligament). Main modern meaning "to make (someone) indebted by conferring a benefit or kindness" is from 1567;
be obliged "be bound by ties of gratitude" is from 1548.
Obliging "willing to do service or favors" is attested from 1632.
2. From Middle English obligen, from Old French obligier, obliger, from Latin obligō, obligāre, from ob- + ligō. Doublet of obligate, taken straight from Latin. See: Middle English '
obligen', Latin '
obligo'.
Verbs referencing "oblige"
Spanish
obligar.
Sample Sentences
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[...] represented to be. This was very torturing indeed; and I do n't think I ever felt such perfect gratification and gratitude of heart, as I did when I heard from the ship 's doctor that he had been obliged to put a large mustard poultice on this very gentleman 's stomach. I date my recovery from the receipt of that intelligence.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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Not being able, in the absence of any change of clothes, to go to church that day, we were compelled to decline these kindnesses, one and all; and I was reluctantly obliged to forego the delight of hearing Dr. Channing, who happened to preach that morning for the first time in a very long interval. I mention the name of this distinguished and accomplished man (with [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] take an active part. Dances and marches are performed alternately, to the enlivening strains of a piano; and now and then some gentleman or lady (whose proficiency has been previously ascertained ) obliges the company with a song: nor does it ever degenerate, at a tender crisis, into a screech or howl; wherein, I must confess, I should have thought the danger lay. At an early hour they all meet [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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“ What sin, Emily ? You see yourself that we have only done what we were obliged to. ”
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] say that of him, any way; — and my mistress was kind; but they couldn't help themselves. They were owing money; and there was some way, I can't tell how, that a man had a hold on them, and they were obliged to give him his will. I listened, and heard him telling mistress that, and she begging and pleading for me,—and he told her he couldn't help himself, and that the papers were all drawn; — and then [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] various departments; the keepers of the hotels and boarding-houses; and the tradesmen who supply their tables. It is very unhealthy. Few people would live in Washington, I take it, who were not obliged to reside there; and the tides of emigration and speculation, those rapid and regardless currents, are little likely to flow at any time towards such dull and sluggish water.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] some occasion of our stopping, this thing slowly upreared itself to the height of three feet six, and fixing its eyes on me, observed in piping accents, with a complaisant yawn, half quenched in an obliging air of friendly patronage, ‘Well now, stranger, I guess you find this a’most like an English arternoon, hey ? ’
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] and a very bright, keen, dark, and piercing eye. There were but twenty thousand of the Choctaws left, he said, and their number was decreasing every day. A few of his brother chiefs had been obliged to become civilised, and to make themselves acquainted with what the whites knew, for it was their only chance of existence. But they were not many; and the rest were as they always had been. He [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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“ Papa is much obliged to you for his recommendation, ” said St. Clare, laughing, as he turned on his heel and walked away.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] little too fond of freedom for that, sir. Ha, ha! It 's not so easy for a man to tear himself from a free country such as this is, sir. Ha, ha! No, no! Ha, ha! None of that till one 's obliged to do it, sir. No, no!’
(American Notes for General Circulation)