supposed

/səˈpoʊzd/

/səˈpʌʊzd/

If you are supposed to do something, it means that you'd better get to it. If you're supposed to go to your grandma's house for dinner, then your grandmother expects you.

Something that's required is supposed, and something that's assumed to be true — even if it's really not — is also supposed. If you describe someone as your brother's supposed best friend, it means that everyone thinks of him as a good pal, but maybe he's not as loyal as they believe him to be. If higher taxes result in supposed improvements in your city's schools, things may be better, but there's still some doubt about it.

Definitions of supposed

1. adjective

   required or under orders
   “I'm supposed to be there at ten”

   “he was supposed to go to the store”

   synonyms:

   obligated

   caused by law or conscience to follow a certain course
2. adjective

   based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence
   “the supposed reason for his absence”

   synonyms: circumstantial, conjectural, divinatory, hypothetic, hypothetical, suppositional, suppositious, supposititious

   theoretic, theoretical

   concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations
3. adjective

   mistakenly believed
   “the supposed existence of ghosts”

   synonyms:

   improbable, unlikely

   not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred
4. adjective

   doubtful or suspect
   synonyms: alleged, so-called

   questionable

   subject to question