OUGHT Definition & Meaning

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ought

[ awt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

auxiliary verb

(used to express duty or moral obligation):
Every citizen ought to help.
(used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like):
He ought to be punished. You ought to be ashamed.
(used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.):
You ought to be home early. We ought to bring her some flowers.
(used to express probability or natural consequence):
That ought to be our train now.

noun

duty or obligation.

ought

[ awt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

aught ².

ought

/ ɔː�� /

verb

to indicate duty or obligation
you ought to pay your dues
to express prudent expediency
you ought to be more careful with your money
(usually with reference to future time) to express probability or expectation
you ought to finish this work by Friday
to express a desire or wish on the part of the speaker
you ought to come next week

ought

/ ɔː�� /

pronoun

a variant spelling of aught 1

ought

/ ɔː�� /

noun

a less common word for nought

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Usage Note

Ought1 forms its negative in a number of ways. Ought not occurs in all types of speech and writing and is fully standard: The conferees ought not to waste time on protocol. Oughtn't, largely a spoken form, is found mainly in the Midland and Southern dialects of the United States, where it is almost the universal form. Hadn't ought is a common spoken form in the Northern dialect area. It is sometimes condemned in usage guides and is uncommon in educated speech except of the most informal variety. Didn't ought and shouldn't ought are considered nonstandard. Both positive and negative forms of ought are almost always followed by the infinitive form: We ought to go now. You ought not to worry about it. Occasionally, to is omitted after the negative construction: Congress ought not adjourn without considering this bill.

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Usage

In correct English, ought is not used with did or had. I ought not to do it, not I didn't ought to do it ; I ought not to have done it, not I hadn't ought to have done it

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ought¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ought, aught, Old English ��ٱ�, past tense of �岵�� “t�� owe ”

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ought¹

Old English ��ٱ�, past tense of �岵�� to owe ; related to Gothic aihta

Origin of ought²

C19: mistaken division of a nought as an ought; see nought

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Synonym Study

See must ¹.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

I mean, I think this is what we should not be; that we've been there in the past, and we made some changes, and we should realize that this is not the way things ought to be and we should continue to contest those.

From

District Judge James Boasberg ordered his administration to halt deportations of accused gang members to El Salvador, joined them on Tuesday, posting on Truth Social that he ought to be impeached.

From

That much ought to be relatively clear.

From

It is alleged that in his role as the head of sport for the 2017 World Para-Athletics Championships, a cage he "knew or ought to have known was provided/supplied and erected without its said base structure".

From

"It was extremely difficult for the family to hear the evidence and reading the determination is bittersweet in terms of achieving some sense of closure but also learning once again how different things ought to have been."

From

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