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.
"There are fields we are supposed to be cutting, but there are just not enough people. Local people don't like this job because it is back‑breaking and physical," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Student loans are following more Americans into what were supposed to be their retirement years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Listen, I don’t know anyone who liked Holden Caulfield the first time they read the book, probably because he is not supposed to be particularly likable; Salinger wrote the book for adults, not teens.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Charli XCX was supposed to be taking a break.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
It felt like it was supposed to stay legendary and invisible unless your bones resonated with the same songs.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
