supposed

[suh-pohzd, -poh-zid, suh-pohst]

adjective

1. merely thought or alleged to be such, on a very questionable basis; imagined.

   When one tries to understand more about these supposed gains, they turn out to be nothing more than clever rhetoric.

2. accepted or believed to be so, without certain knowledge.

   This is the supposed site of the ancient temple, based on recent archeological finds.

3. assumed for the sake of argument; hypothetical.

   Given a supposed scenario where you see two students fighting in the schoolyard, how do you handle it?

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of suppose.

supposed

/ səˈpəʊzd, səˈpəʊzɪdlɪ, -ˈpəʊzɪd /

adjective

1. (prenominal) presumed to be true without certain knowledge

   his supposed date of birth

2. (prenominal) believed to be true on slight grounds; highly doubtful

   the supposed existence of ghosts

3. expected or obliged (to)

   I'm supposed to be there at nine

4. expected or obliged not (to)

   you're not supposed to walk on the grass

Other Word Forms

• supposedly adverb
• nonsupposed adjective
• unsupposed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of supposed¹

First recorded in 1560–70; suppose + -ed ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. supposed to. suppose.

Example Sentences

"After all, you don't want to be caught out when you're supposed to be having a relaxing time on holiday."

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I was not supposed to be a drug addict.

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And the current data understate the dominance of passive, valuation-blind index investing because many of the supposed “active” investors are closet indexers, St. James adds.

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After getting manhandled by two opponents from the Mountain West Conference, UCLA’s offensive line largely held up against a Penn State defense that was supposed to be the Nittany Lions’ strength.

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I was asking the British, who are not supposed to be able to dance, to be in a dance show dressed as cats.

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Related Words

• alleged 
• apparent 
• presumed www.thesaurus.com
• purported