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had better

Idioms

Also, had best. Ought to, should. For example, You had better finish this one before starting another, or We had best be going. [Mid-1400s] Also see you'd better believe it.

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.

Eisenhower said, ‘We had better meteorologists than the Germans.’

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

As a clinical psychologist, she empowered people to free themselves from victimhood by realizing they had better choices to make.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

And Wall Street had better not get me started on “exponential”—my TI trigger finger is itchy.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

Whoever is given the job of informing him of that had better take a handful of sedatives and a crowbar to pry the president off the wall of the Oval Office.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

No matter how noble the ideal, some people had better jobs or nicer apartments whether or not they had earned them.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023