How do you pronounce obligatory?

The recorded pronunciation is /əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/.

Where does obligatory come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

obligatory

/əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.39 in modern English

Syllables: oblig-a-tory
IPA: /əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Imposing obligation, legally, morally, or otherwise; binding; mandatory.

adj

Requiring a matter or obligation.

Example Sentences

"an obligatory promise"
"[…] if he speak the words of an oath in a strange language, thinking they signify something else, or if he spake in his sleep, or deliration, or distraction, it is no oath, and so not obligatory."
"[I]t was something that every schoolboy of my generation almost `had' to do, as obligatory a proof of impending manliness as scrumping apples or pulling girls' pigtails."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁óp(i) Proto-Italic *op Latin ob Latin ob- Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ-der. Latin ligō Latin obligō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -tōrius Latin obligātōriusbor. Middle English obligatorie English obligatory From Middle English obligatorie, from Latin obligatōrius.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *leyǵ-, obligatorie, obligatōrius

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/
British English: /əˈblɪɡ.ə.t(ə)ɹi/

Inflected Forms

more obligatory (comparative) most obligatory (superlative)

Derived Forms

disobligatory nonobligatory obligala obligatorification obligatoriness obligatorize unobligatory

Frequently Paired Words

obligate obligated obligation obligational obligato obligatorily oblige obligee

Synonyms

bounden mandatory incumbent

Antonyms

optional