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- DictionaryO·blig·a·to·ry/əˈbliɡəˌtôrē/
adjective
- 1. required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory: "use of seat belts in cars is now obligatory"
1. : binding in law or conscience. The ordinance made it obligatory that homeowners clear the snow from the sidewalks. 2. : relating to or enforcing an obligation. a writ obligatory. 3. : mandatory, required. obligatory military service. also : so commonplace as to be a convention, fashion, or cliché. the obligatory death scene in opera.
OBLIGATORY definition: 1. If something is obligatory, you must do it because of a rule or law, etc.: 2. expected because…. Learn more.
Obligatory definition: required as a matter of obligation; mandatory. See examples of OBLIGATORY used in a sentence.
OBLIGATORY meaning: 1. If something is obligatory, you must do it because of a rule or law, etc.: 2. expected because…. Learn more.
Obligatory describes something you do because you have to, not because you want to. When you buy a car, you have to fill out the obligatory forms. In many homes, saying please and thank you is obligatory.
1. Of the nature of an obligation; compulsory: Attendance is obligatory. Mathematics is an obligatory course. 2. Required as part of a routine course of action or cultural expectation; predictable: "wearing clothing like basketball shoes, baggy pants, and the obligatory baseball cap" (Tyler Stovall). 3.
If you describe something as obligatory, you mean that it is done from habit or custom and not because the person involved has thought carefully about it or really means it. His lips curved up in the obligatory smile, acknowledging the compliment.
