Synonyms for obligation
Most common
duty responsibility charge accountability commitment agreement compulsion
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Duty
duty, responsibility, charge, charre UK, accountability
2. Commitment
commitment, agreement, contract, covenant, bond, stipulation, engagement
3. Compulsion
Other
indebtedness, debt instrument, gratitude, man date informal, beholdenness
Definitions
- n. 1
The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone.
- n. 2
A social, legal, or moral requirement, duty, contract, or promise that compels someone to follow or avoid a particular course of action.
I feel I'm under obligation to attend my sister's wedding, even though we have a very frosty relationship.
- n. 3
A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which someone is bound or restricted.
Related words
- Word family
- obligate obligated obligatorily oblige obliger obliging obligingly obligingness
- Phrases
- moral obligation
Forms
- Plural
- obligations → duties, responsibilities, charges, accountabilities…
Choose the right word
Etymologically, duty is that which is owed or due; obligation, that to or by which one is bound; right, that which is correct, straight, or in the direct line of truth and goodness; responsibility, that for which one must answer.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- responsibility The group claimed responsibility for the bombings.
- duty You must do your duty, whether you like it or not.
- accountability You need to take accountability for what you did.
- agreement I'm in complete agreement with everything he said.
- commitment Tom made a commitment to cooperate with a company.
- compulsion He was not sure he could fight the compulsion to run.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| obligation | steady | |
| responsibility | falling | |
| duty | falling | |
| accountability | rising | |
| agreement | falling | |
| commitment | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- duty2, bond1
- 6 letters
- charge1, charre
- 8 letters
- contract2, covenant3
- 9 letters
- agreement3, necessity4, gratitude3
- 10 letters
- commitment3, engagement3, constraint2, compulsion3
- 11 letters
- stipulation4
- 12 letters
- indebtedness4, beholdenness
- 14 letters
- responsibility6, accountability6
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (duty2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- obligation
- Italiano
- obbligo
- Español
- obligación