Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of the nature of an obligation; compulsory.
  • adjective Required as part of a routine course of action or cultural expectation; predictable.
  • adjective Biology Obligate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Imposing obligation; binding in law or conscience; imposing duty; requiring performance of or forbearance from some act: followed by on before the person, formerly by to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Binding in law or conscience; imposing duty or obligation; requiring performance or forbearance of some act; -- often followed by on or upon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Imposing obligation, morally or legally; binding: an obligatory promise.
  • adjective Requiring a matter or obligation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective required by obligation or compulsion or convention
  • adjective morally or legally constraining or binding

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin obligare obligate, from ob- to + ligare to bind, from Proto-Indo-European *leig- to bind.

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Examples

  • As such it shares with them certain obligatory objectives requiring the Court of Auditors and the other Institutions to "aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions".

    An "Independent" Court of Auditors? 2007

  • As such it shares with them certain obligatory objectives requiring the Court of Auditors and the other Institutions to "aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions".

    Archive 2007-08-12 2007

  • Now, whichever of those groups he takes up he must take certain obligatory subjects.

    The Universities and Commerce 1919

  • Arabic theology before him -- between those commandments and prohibitions in the Bible which the reason itself approves as right or condemns as wrong -- the rational commandments -- and those which to the reason seem indifferent, and which revelation alone characterizes as obligatory, permitted or forbidden -- the so-called "traditional commandments."

    A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy Isaac Husik 1907

  • How much less appealing is the notion of obligatory generosity.

    Forced Merriment: The True Spirit of Christmas Christopher Hitchens 2011

  • The minister said about BRL15.8 billion in cuts would come from so-called obligatory spending, which are those items such as salaries and jobs.

    Brazil's Finance Chief Calls for Spending Cuts Matthew Cowley 2011

  • There was a quick clip of Obama's speech and then the famous moneygall shot of Obama drinking his pint, which Williams described as the obligatory pint of Guinness in the Dublin brewery.

    John Lee: Obama in Ireland Gets Pint's Worth of Coverage in U.S. John Lee 2011

  • There was a quick clip of Obama's speech and then the famous moneygall shot of Obama drinking his pint, which Williams described as the obligatory pint of Guinness in the Dublin brewery.

    John Lee: Obama in Ireland Gets Pint's Worth of Coverage in U.S. John Lee 2011

  • While a federal judge struck down important parts of Arizona's draconian immigration law today, namely the obligatory police check of immigration status, the battle over Arizona's immigration crisis has hardly come to a screeching halt.

    Jeff Biggers: Darkness at Noon in Arizona: Delayed, But Not Over 2010

  • Some philosophers (like Nahmanides) follow the former reading, arguing that moral acts of piety or charity are obligatory, that is to say duties that apply to everybody.

    How to Kill a Missionary 2009

Comments

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  • Hello! This is my first search on Wordnik. Thank you for this website!

    April 12, 2021

  • The images are incorrect, but obligatory is like "mandatory".

    April 12, 2021