Synonym Chooser

How is the word obedient different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of obedient are amenable, docile, and tractable. While all these words mean "submissive to the will of another," obedient implies compliance with the demands or requests of one in authority.

obedient to the government

When is amenable a more appropriate choice than obedient?

The words amenable and obedient can be used in similar contexts, but amenable suggests a willingness to yield or cooperate because of a desire to be agreeable or because of a natural open-mindedness.

amenable to new ideas

When is it sensible to use docile instead of obedient?

Although the words docile and obedient have much in common, docile implies a predisposition to submit readily to control or guidance.

a docile child

Where would tractable be a reasonable alternative to obedient?

In some situations, the words tractable and obedient are roughly equivalent. However, tractable suggests having a character that permits easy handling or managing.

tractable animals

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of obedient The twist offered in this tale is that this dutiful and obedient AI proceeds to gobble up all the available resources on earth to maximally achieve this goal. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025 The twist offered in this tale is that this dutiful and obedient AI proceeds to gobble up all the available resources on earth to maximally achieve this goal. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025 In this framing, children are not autonomous individuals worthy of respect, but future standard-bearers of their parents’ values—which means that the greatest sign of a mother’s success is producing obedient children. Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2025 Always angling to be the good daughter, the obedient one, the ladylike one, the prettier one. Lynette Rice, Deadline, 22 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for obedient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obedient
Adjective
  • Large but docile eastern indigo snakes rule the forest floor, though their rosy cheeks and lustrous bodies are rarely seen.
    Elise Bennett, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 May 2025
  • Moreover, the website adds that these animals are usually quite docile in nature and are generally not known to attack humans.
    Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • But while the Internet is torn over whether Carpenter’s submissive position on the Man’s Best Friend cover is funny or degrading, Whoopi Goldberg was more concerned with something else.
    Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 12 June 2025
  • By contrast, a beta is supposedly weak and submissive—a follower.
    Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • This can be a Real ID or other compliant form of identification.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 14 July 2025
  • An internal audit completed earlier this year by the NFLPA reportedly found the organization compliant with best practices.
    Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • Advertisers can use biddable automation to buy ads in real-time against live programming, which is especially critical for live sports.
    Sara Fischer, Axios, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Advertisers can use biddable automation to buy ads in real-time against live programming, which is especially critical for live sports.
    Sara Fischer, Axios, 8 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • These moves have prompted concern among segments of Trump's base supportive of a restrained international role, raising questions about the administration's direction ahead of a crucial 2026 midterm election cycle.
    Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
  • As Rick, Goggins got to show longtime fans and incoming members of his fan club a rarer side of the actor: quiet, restrained, in deep amounts of unspoken pain.
    Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2025
Adjective
  • Last year saw the first curved OLED televisions—progress in such conformable screens could lead to the days when virtually any surface could be host to a display.
    IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 4 Jan. 2015
  • In particular, embodiments describe protective cover layer structures that may be implemented in curved, flexible, conformable and foldable display modules, and in particular with curved, flexible, conformable and foldable display panels.
    Chris Smith, BGR, 6 Apr. 2021
Adjective
  • These prove out Fielder’s intuition that aviation safety depends on candid cockpit conversation, a particularly high-stakes—and, crucially, perhaps tractable—example of Fielder’s over-all preoccupation with the fear and anxiety that inhibits genuine communication.
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 25 May 2025
  • But tractable torque delivery of 324 lb-ft, which hits at 5,800 rpm, makes the process of revving and gearshifting an absolute pleasure.
    Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • From the sounds of it, the scenarios to watch are either a needle-moving free agent or a trade with a team that is successful in free agency and needs to move a player off the roster for cap reasons, becoming more amenable to taking back futures.
    Max Bultman, New York Times, 29 June 2025
  • For such a waive-and-conversion move to work, Johnson would have to clear waivers and then be amenable to a two-way deal that would halve his salary.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 22 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Obedient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obedient. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.

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