supposed


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

sup·posed

 (sə-pōzd′)
adj.
1. (also sə-pō′zĭd) Presumed to be true or real without conclusive evidence: a supposed spy; the supposed decline of culture.
2. (also sə-pōst′) Intended: medication that is supposed to relieve pain.
3. (also sə-pōst′)
a. Required: He is supposed to go to the store.
b. Permitted: We are not supposed to smoke here.
c. Firmly believed; expected: You're supposed to be my friend.

sup·pos′ed·ly (-pō′zĭd-lē) adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

supposed

(səˈpəʊzd; -ˈpəʊzɪd)
adj
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. (foll by: to) expected or obliged (to): I'm supposed to be there at nine.
4. (foll by: to) expected or obliged not (to): you're not supposed to walk on the grass.
supposedly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sup•posed

(səˈpoʊzd, -ˈpoʊ zɪd)

adj.
1. assumed as true; hypothetical: a supposed case.
2. accepted as true, without positive knowledge: the supposed site of an ancient temple.
3. merely thought to be such; imagined: supposed gains.
[1560–70]
sup•pos′ed•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.supposed - required or under orders; "I'm supposed to be there at ten"; "he was supposed to go to the store"
obligated - caused by law or conscience to follow a certain course; "felt obligated to repay the kindness"; "was obligated to pay off the student loan"
2.supposed - mistakenly believed; "the supposed existence of ghosts"
improbable, unlikely - not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred; "legislation on the question is highly unlikely"; "an improbable event"
3.supposed - doubtful or suspect; "these so-called experts are no help"
questionable - subject to question; "questionable motives"; "a questionable reputation"; "a fire of questionable origin"
4.supposed - based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence; "theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are still highly conjectural"; "the supposed reason for his absence"; "suppositious reconstructions of dead languages"; "hypothetical situation"
theoretic, theoretical - concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; "theoretical science"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

supposed

adjective
1. (usually with to) meant, expected, required, obliged He produced a handwritten note of nine men he was supposed to kill.
2. presumed, alleged, professed, reputed, accepted, assumed, rumoured, hypothetical, putative, presupposed What is it his son is supposed to have said?
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

supposed

adjective
1. Presumed to be true, real, or genuine, especially on inconclusive grounds:
2. Assumed to be such:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

supposed

[səˈpəʊzd] ADJ [ally, benefit, threat] → supuesto
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

supposed

[səˈpəʊzd səˈpəʊzɪd] adj (= alleged) [ally, enemy, rival, benefit, threat] → supposé(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

supposed

adjvermutet; date of birth, site of temple, author alsomutmaßlich; insult, glamourangeblich
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

supposed

[səˈpəʊzd] adj (presumed) → presunto/a; (so-called) → cosiddetto/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Let A to L represent the species of a genus large in its own country; these species are supposed to resemble each other in unequal degrees, as is so generally the case in nature, and as is represented in the diagram by the letters standing at unequal distances.
Seeing what it supposed to be the finger of scorn pointed at it, the Unblotted Escutcheon turned black with rage.
It is matter of common observation that "so-and-so does not know his own motives," or that "A is envious of B and malicious about him, but quite unconscious of being so." Such people are called self-deceivers, and are supposed to have had to go through some more or less elaborate process of concealing from themselves what would otherwise have been obvious.
Now, during the past night and forenoon, the Pequod had gradually drifted into a sea, which, by its occasional patches of yellow brit, gave unusual tokens of the vicinity of Right Whales, a species of the Leviathan that but few supposed to be at this particular time lurking anywhere near.
She supposed, if he meant anything, he must mean and allusion to what might arise in that quarter.
"But why should such precaution be used?--Though it is not to be supposed that Mrs.
Accordingly, seeing that our senses sometimes deceive us, I was willing to suppose that there existed nothing really such as they presented to us; and because some men err in reasoning, and fall into paralogisms, even on the simplest matters of geometry, I, convinced that I was as open to error as any other, rejected as false all the reasonings I had hitherto taken for demonstrations; and finally, when I considered that the very same thoughts(presentations) which we experience when awake may also be experienced when we are asleep, while there is at that time not one of them true, I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions of my dreams.
Consider, I said, Glaucon, that even the badness of food, whether staleness, decomposition, or any other bad quality, when confined to the actual food, is not supposed to destroy the body; although, if the badness of food communicates corruption to the body, then we should say that the body has been destroyed by a corruption of itself, which is disease, brought on by this; but that the body, being one thing, can be destroyed by the badness of food, which is another, and which does not engender any natural infection-- this we shall absolutely deny?
Up to that time, he had simply supposed himself (in giving you the laudanum) to be helping to make you the victim of a harmless practical joke.
Only once we heard a gunshot a great way off and supposed them to be hunting.
If you had supposed that it would make me excessively angry as well, you would not have been far wrong.
The sheriff, who is the summoner of ordinary juries, and the clerks of courts, who have the nomination of special juries, are themselves standing officers, and, acting individually, may be supposed more accessible to the touch of corruption than the judges, who are a collective body.