ought

¹

[awt]

auxiliary verb

1. (used to express duty or moral obligation).

   Every citizen ought to help.

2. (used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like).

   He ought to be punished. You ought to be ashamed.

3. (used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.).

   You ought to be home early. We ought to bring her some flowers.

4. (used to express probability or natural consequence).

   That ought to be our train now.

noun

1. duty or obligation.

ought

²

[awt]

noun

1. aught.

ought

¹

/ ɔːt /

verb

1. to indicate duty or obligation

   you ought to pay your dues

2. to express prudent expediency

   you ought to be more careful with your money

3. (usually with reference to future time) to express probability or expectation

   you ought to finish this work by Friday

4. to express a desire or wish on the part of the speaker

   you ought to come next week

ought

²

/ ɔːt /

pronoun

1. a variant spelling of aught 1

ought

³

/ ɔːt /

noun

1. a less common word for nought

Usage

Ought1 forms its negative in a number of ways. Ought not occurs in all types of speech and writing and is fully standard: The conferees ought not to waste time on protocol. Oughtn't, largely a spoken form, is found mainly in the Midland and Southern dialects of the United States, where it is almost the universal form. Hadn't ought is a common spoken form in the Northern dialect area. It is sometimes condemned in usage guides and is uncommon in educated speech except of the most informal variety. Didn't ought and shouldn't ought are considered nonstandard. Both positive and negative forms of ought are almost always followed by the infinitive form: We ought to go now. You ought not to worry about it. Occasionally, to is omitted after the negative construction: Congress ought not adjourn without considering this bill.

In correct English, ought is not used with did or had. I ought not to do it, not I didn't ought to do it ; I ought not to have done it, not I hadn't ought to have done it

Word History and Origins

Origin of ought¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ought, aught, Old English āhte, past tense of āgan “to owe ”

Word History and Origins

Origin of ought¹

Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to _owe ; related to Gothic aihta

Origin of ought²

C19: mistaken division of a nought as an ought; see _nought

Synonym Study

See must ¹.

Example Sentences

Those closest to Smith ought to intervene and coax him into retirement before he can embarrass the federal judiciary more.

Read more on Slate

And frankly, as a card-carrying millennial who was absolutely socialized to believe that anyone airing something I disagreed with ought to be swiftly reprimanded and deplatformed, I don’t think I myself have fully broken free of the clenched language policies that defined the old order.

Read more on Slate

As you know, the world is round like a ball, not flat like a book, which is why every nursery ought to contain a proper globe instead of a potato, and why a well-trained governess will not panic if her pupils attempt to play catch during their geography lessons.

Read more on Literature

“What do you think I ought to name the little fellow? It’ll be a boy, of course. We only seem to have boys, we Ashtons!”

Read more on Literature

Also note that the eleventh hour in the morning is the perfect time to enjoy a cup of tea, but the eleventh hour at night is a time when only stage actors and theater critics ought to be up and about.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• accountability 
• agreement 
• bond 
• burden 
• commitment 
• constraint 
• contract 
• debt 
• duty 
• liability 
• necessity 
• need 
• promise 
• requirement 
• right 
• trust 
• understanding