supposed

American  

[suh-pohzd, -poh-zid, suh-pohst] / səˈpoʊzd, -ˈpoʊ zɪd, səˈpoʊst /

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?

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verb

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

idioms

1. supposed to. suppose.

supposed British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• nonsupposed adjective
• supposedly adverb
• unsupposed adjective

Etymology

Origin of supposed

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

Example Sentences

The predictive text is supposed to learn your style and improve over time, but depending on the fixes you do or don’t accept, it can learn incorrect spellings in place of correct ones.

From The Wall Street Journal

They tore down walls they weren’t supposed to, intent on fixing the house themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal

The gates are supposed to allow California Highway Patrol to manually block access points to the freeway.

From Los Angeles Times

The agency is supposed to set the quota each year, but hasn’t since 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal

On Saturday, South Lake Tahoe could reach 66 degrees and is supposed to warm up even more by Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alleged
• apparent
• presumed
• purported