obliged
Other forms: obligedly
Someone who is obliged is bound to follow through on whatever is expected of him. Every April you are obliged or expected to submit your taxes. If you don't, the IRS is obliged to charge you with tax evasion. Ouch.
The word obliged comes from the Latin ligare meaning "to bind." Obliged typically refers to a moral or legal obligation or responsibility. If you're being followed by an ambulance with its siren on, you are obliged to pull to the side of the road and let it pass. In some cultures, women are obliged to cover their heads.
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under a moral obligation to do somethingsynonyms: duty-boundobligatedcaused by law or conscience to follow a certain course
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Vocabulary lists containing obliged
In this novel, a boy imprisoned in a concentration camp and the son of a Nazi commandant develop an unlikely friendship.
Jack and Algernon — two bachelors in 19th-century England — use false identities to get what they want — and get into trouble — in this comedy by Oscar Wilde.
In this classic autobiography, the accomplished poet and writer recounts her childhood and teenage years.