obliging

[uh-blahy-jing]

adjective

1. willing or eager to do favors, offer one's services, etc.; accommodating.

   The clerk was most obliging.

   Synonyms: friendly, kind, helpful

2. obligating.

obliging

/ əˈblaɪdʒɪŋ /

adjective

1. ready to do favours; agreeable; kindly

Other Word Forms

• obligingly adverb
• obligingness noun
• unobliging adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of obliging¹

First recorded in 1630–40; oblige + -ing ²

Example Sentences

America’s military is, in short, well-prepared to fight a major conventional war against an obliging enemy like Iraq in 1991, but such a scenario is unlikely to lie in our future.

From Salon

“Friendship” surrounds Robinson with normalcy: filler talk, obliging laughter and the kind of handsome lighting you’d see in a home-insurance commercial.

From Los Angeles Times

These include rules obliging banks to run enhanced money laundering checks for defence and security companies, and to make sure they are not financing weapons banned under international treaties.

From BBC

Nujoma was especially concerned with the plight of children, introducing maintenance payments obliging absent fathers to contribute to the cost of raising their offspring.

From BBC

For once, the hype and high expectations were justified, with even the weather obliging with biblical conditions and black clouds overhead that set a mood of foreboding.

From BBC

When To Use

What does obliging mean?

Obliging is used to describe someone who is willing or eager to politely do things for others, such as performing favors or services for them, as in a most obliging host.It can also describe such a person’s actions, as in We appreciate your obliging service. A close synonym is accommodating.The word comes from the verb oblige, which commonly means to politely do something for someone, as in He’s the kind of person who’s happy to oblige no matter what the request is.Oblige also commonly means to require, compel, or constrain, but obliging is not typically used as an adjective in this sense.Example: You’ve been so obliging—we can’t thank you enough for all your hospitality.