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.
It was supposed to be a no-brainer — it hadn’t spread yet, thank goodness.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Next month's World Cup, where Los Angeles is hosting eight matches, was supposed to allow the Californian metropolis to burnish its image, just two years before the city hosts the Olympic Games.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
New York spent a few years working on the parts, and how the parts were supposed to fit together, and they controversially cycled out headstrong coach Tom Thibodeau in favor of Mike Brown’s lighter touch.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Or at least that’s what it was supposed to be about.
From Slate • May 23, 2026
It’s like my body’s woken up to what it’s supposed to do.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
