supposed to
Idioms-
Intended to; also, believed to, expected to. For example, This pill is supposed to relieve your pain , or You're supposed to be my partner . [Early 1300s]
-
Required to, as in He is supposed to call home . [Mid-1800s]
-
not supposed to . Not permitted to, as in You're not supposed to smoke in here .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We’re supposed to deploy the word epic and act like we didn’t brush our teeth and hit the hay after Shelton took the second set.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
It turns out that when George Best went missing when he was supposed to be playing for Manchester United, he was often in Sir Paul's spare bedroom.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
What is supposed to be the subject of our remembering?
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
"They were able to get the nutrients delivered right to them, they were able to function the way they're supposed to, and they produced the proteins that we expect them to."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
“I think we’re supposed to have electrolytes now that we’ve been running so long.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
