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.
The unfaithful Clytemnestra and Helen are supposed to be contrasting forces to Anne Hathaway’s loyal Penelope.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
Enterprise hardware is supposed to get cheaper after it ships.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Lords of Serendipity,” which publishes next week, reflects Boyagoda’s commitment to the pursuit of knowledge: “I’m supposed to say I learn more from my students than they do from me, but no,” Boyagoda said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Anthropic also recently discovered that its models had gained unauthorized access to three unnamed organizations during testing that was supposed to keep them away from "real-world" systems.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
They’d find Hesterfowl, figure out what was happening, and go on to live how they were supposed to: Clare alone in Deadwood, and Gingersnipes in whatever Afterlife to which she belonged.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
