mandatory
Americanadjective
-
authoritatively ordered; obligatory; compulsory.
It is mandatory that all students take two years of math.
-
pertaining to, of the nature of, or containing a command.
-
Law. permitting no option; not to be disregarded or modified.
a mandatory clause.
-
having received a mandate, as a nation.
noun
-
mandatories
plural
adjective
-
having the nature or powers of a mandate
-
obligatory; compulsory
-
(of a state) having received a mandate over some territory
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mandatory
From the Late Latin word mandātōrius, dating back to 1655–65. See mandate, -tory 1
Explanation
In the US, attending school through the twelfth grade, driving on the right side of the road, and obtaining a social security number are all mandatory. The phrase "mandatory requirement" is redundant. A mandatory action is something that is required, obligatory, or compulsory. Like letting your Great Aunt Edna pinch your cheeks or passing gym to get your diploma. Mandatory is often used in opposition to optional. If you want to compete with the swim team at school, weeknight practices are mandatory, meaning you have to go, though the Saturday dawn swim practice remains optional, meaning it's up to you.
Vocabulary lists containing mandatory
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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.
See Examples For:
The Norte fire in south Orange County broke out amid strong Santa Ana winds on Friday morning, triggering mandatory evacuations in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Lawyers for the Alexanders argued that a sentence of 15 years, the mandatory minimum required by law, in prison was sufficient.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Some firms choose to pay the Real Living Wage, but it is not mandatory.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The last part is about making reporting of security incidents mandatory.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Soma was yearning aloud for one more Big Thing as she approached mandatory retirement.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
By giving up the belts, he is stepping away from mandatories, the politics and the pressure to keep defending against whoever is next in line.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
There is also the issue of Usyk's mandatories, which could throw up one particularly eye-catching encounter.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2022
With the collapse of those mandatories today, those same defendants could easily see far different outcomes.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 10, 2016
Instead he has dealt with a string of decent but unspectacular mandatories in Hagler-esque fashion as they have shuffled tentatively into his range.
From The Guardian ● May 9, 2016
Since 1791, the elections, violated and deserted, had brought intruders only to the legislative benches, under the name of mandatories.
From The Modern Regime, Volume 1 by John Durand
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
