supposed to
Idioms-
Intended to; also, believed to, expected to. For example, This pill is supposed to relieve your pain , or You're supposed to be my partner . [Early 1300s]
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Required to, as in He is supposed to call home . [Mid-1800s]
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not supposed to . Not permitted to, as in You're not supposed to smoke in here .
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.
No duration time has been announced for the World Cup show, although soccer halftimes are not supposed to last more than 15 minutes.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
The mother of Nottingham attacks killer Valdo Calocane has told a public inquiry the system that was supposed to care for him is "so broken".
From BBC • May 14, 2026
The state’s June 9 primary is less than a month away, and early voting is supposed to begin at end of May.
From Slate • May 14, 2026
There is an additional problem, too: Taxes on gasoline are supposed to charge drivers for some of the costs their driving imposes on everyone else – carbon emissions, local air pollution, congestion and crashes.
From Salon • May 13, 2026
“That emphatically does not do what it’s supposed to do, ever. It’s always marching in the opposite direction of the rest of your head.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions 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.
