commitment.

1. A promise, obligation, or planned undertaking that limits later choices.

2. A strong willingness to devote effort or loyalty to something.

3. The formal placement of a person in custody or a treatment institution.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• financial commitment
• prior commitment

On the page

A prior commitment prevented him from attending the hearing.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Countable or uncountable by context; countable singular commitment; plural commitments. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.