entailed
Americanadjective
-
involved with or following from something by logical necessity or as a consequence.
Most of the public complied with the curfew restrictions despite the entailed inconvenience.
If the entailed proposition turns out to be false, the theory that generated it must also be false.
-
Law. (of real estate) limited to a specified line of heirs, so that it cannot be transferred or bequeathed to anyone else.
This entailed estate has belonged to the family for a period of 300 years.
-
Law. descending to a fixed series of possessors, as a title, the crown, etc..
On the death of his uncle Edward, Duke of York, Richard acquired the entailed title of his grandfather Edmund, Duke of York.
verb
Other Word Forms
- nonentailed adjective
- unentailed adjective
Etymology
Origin of entailed
First recorded in 1525–35; entail ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; entail ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
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.
"But I would tell them this, they haven't a clue what this investigation has entailed," he told the Tucson Sentinel newspaper this week.
From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026
Filings also note a $1 million payment to Weiss that entailed compensation for family members and payments to his personal American Express card, and a $205,500 disbursement to Stitsky “including salary to a fictitious person.”
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
But denying the request would have entailed meetings, legal review and the risk of complaints.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
And while we’ve never really had the full gory details and what that’s entailed, it’s obviously been a subject of informed speculation.
From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026
On the other hand, Newcomen, unlike Savery, had to construct a moving piston, with all the difficulties of potential friction and leaking that entailed.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
![]()
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.