obliging

/əˈblaɪdʒɪŋ/

/əˈblaɪdʒɪŋ/

If you're obliging, you're easy to get along with and eager to help. An obliging neighbor, for example, might volunteer to shovel your sidewalk after it snows.

The adjective obliging is perfect for describing someone who is especially considerate and helpful. An obliging co-worker will always come to your aid or chip in for donuts, and an obliging roommate will turn off her light when you're ready to go to sleep. The word has been around since the mid-1600s, and it comes from the verb oblige, with its Latin root obligare, which means both "to bind up or bandage" and "to put under obligation or commitment."

Definitions of obliging

1. adjective

   showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others
   “the obliging waiter was in no hurry for us to leave”

   synonyms: complaisant

   accommodating, accommodative

   helpful in bringing about a harmonious adaptation