Obedient

As per Oxford Dictionary, obedient is an adjective meaning complying or willing to comply with an order or request. Cambridge Dictionary states it is: doing, or willing to do, what you have been told to do by someone in authority. Collins Dictionary defines it as obeying or willing to obey. All three meanings inherently speaks the same context where a person or an entity (may be an animal or a robot) does what they are told to do. They follow the orders like a servant does. However, there is a difference as servants are overly obedient and they should not argue with their masters.

One of my friends says being obedient is being dutiful towards men, parents and god. Being dutiful towards men should be taken in a positive perspective and not related to the concept of slavery. Another one says that obedient relates to self. Accordingly, a person who lives freely by obeying his style, approach and thinking and never blames others is an obedient person. However, another acquaintance suggests that obedient is someone who follows the instructions clearly,and for that he or she needs to listen carefully. Behaviorally, an obedient person is calm and patient.

Now, after learning the diverse viewpoints of expert dictionaries and general opinion from my friends, I reached a meaning of "obedient" as someone who follows another person willfully. He is not submissive as a slave but is being obedient to show respect or in other cases, out of fear. The importance of the word willfully is quite significant. It is that you wish to comply and you are not being forced to comply as in case of slavery.

My definition of obedient is just pure willful or wishful following. This can relate to any relationship. For example, I am obedient toProphet Muhammad. Another one is Microsoft has a bunch of obedient employees. Yet another perspective is presented in the example ‘Apple and Samsung are obedient competitors.' A final example to instigate a powerful impression of obedient is: Robots are the perfectly obedient machines humans have ever built. Thus, the simple, generic yet effective elucidation for obedientbecomes clear to everyone.

I could come to this clear definition only while thinking about it and learning the different contextual usage of the word. I could have been influenced by some of the strong examples but I have managed to keep it very generic so that there is no bias. Personally, the perfect obedient example relates to a brother and sister relationship. They fight, they love, they listen, they argue, but still there is a string which connects both to help and guide each other.