obligatory
required as a matter of obligation; mandatory: A reply is desirable but not obligatory.
incumbent or compulsory (usually followed by on or upon): duties obligatory on all.
imposing moral or legal obligation; binding: an obligatory promise.
creating or recording an obligation, as a document.
Origin of obligatory
1Other words for obligatory
Opposites for obligatory
Other words from obligatory
- ob·lig·a·to·ri·ly [uh-blig-uh-tawr-uh-lee, ‐tohr‐, ob-li-guh‐, uh-blig-uh-tawr-uh-lee, ‐tohr‐, ob-li-guh‐], /əˈblɪg əˌtɔr ə li, ‐ˌtoʊr‐, ˈɒb lɪ gə‐, əˌblɪg əˈtɔr ə li, ‐ˈtoʊr‐, ˌɒb lɪ gə‐/, adverb
- ob·lig·a·to·ri·ness, noun
- non·ob·lig·a·to·ri·ly, adverb
- non·ob·lig·a·to·ry, adjective
- un·o·blig·a·to·ry, adjective
Words Nearby obligatory
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use obligatory in a sentence
Needless to say, when the North Face sent me a pair of its newest trail shoes, I assumed I’d take them out for one obligatory run and then relegate them to the bottom shelf.
This became especially problematic when Sanders received the obligatory Gatorade shower as the clock neared zero.
Deion Sanders’s FCS debut at Jackson State is postponed because of covid concerns | Matt Bonesteel | February 26, 2021 | Washington PostThe “CRISPR babies” episode is now an obligatory chapter in any telling of the gene-editing story.
Doria and Bolsonaro have also publicly bickered about everything from social distancing to the use of face masks and whether vaccines should be obligatory or not throughout the tumultuous year.
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro undercuts the Chinese COVID vaccine his country is betting on | Claire Zillman, reporter | October 22, 2020 | FortuneCorporate managers, like most of us, take obligatory duties seriously.
50 years later, Milton Friedman’s shareholder doctrine is dead | jakemeth | September 13, 2020 | Fortune
There was also the obligatory shopping spree at the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store across from Central Park.
Exclusive: Michael Jackson Hit With New Sex Abuse Claim | Diane Dimond | May 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTUnspoken consensus made driving up and down certain streets obligatory and parking in certain places required.
P.J. O’Rourke on Grabbing the Keys to Happiness | P. J. O’Rourke | January 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTYes, they showed up, wore their “Team Mitch” shirts, and joined in the obligatory anti-Obama chants.
McConnell's Fancy Farm Monster Comes Back to Haunt Him | Jonathan Miller | August 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTI actually quit prefacing my Ralph Nader screeds with the obligatory he-gave-us-the-seatbelt boilerplate years ago.
Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg (Knopf) obligatory ‘Power’ SubtitleWomen, Work, and the Will to Lead.
Five Girl-Power Books Exactly Like Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ | Sean Macaulay | March 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was therefore obligatory that purchasers should know his work, that in fact his sign manual should be always present.
Antonio Stradivari | Horace William PetherickTwo duties at least are, therefore, obligatory on him then;—to seek a disposition willingly to vow, and then to make the vow.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamBoth are obligatory at the same instant of time, and both might possibly be performed in one moment.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamThe principles on which the vow is made, are immutable; and while the Church is on earth, it will continue to be obligatory.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamCommands enjoining Covenanting must be obligatory on men, in an individual, or in a social capacity, or in both.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John Cunningham
British Dictionary definitions for obligatory
/ (ɒˈblɪɡətərɪ, -trɪ) /
required to be done, obtained, possessed, etc
of the nature of or constituting an obligation
Derived forms of obligatory
- obligatorily, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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