How to Use ought in a Sentence

ought

1 of 2 auxiliary verb

• Oven mitts ought to be sources of style points, like this set from West Elm.
  — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 1 Nov. 2022
• For that reason alone, Neilon ought to be Pac-12 lineman of the week.
  — oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2022
• Anyone itching to have some fun ought to dress the part.
  — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 19 Apr. 2022
• The wry thriller really ought to be in the running this time.
  — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
• This is the story that ought to be told, because this is the story that’s true.
  — Alex McElroy, ELLE, 16 Feb. 2022
• And from time to time, the array ought to be a refreshed with a new title or two.
  — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 2 Dec. 2022
• And the balance on that police overreach ought to come due.
  — John Archibald | [e-mail], al, 6 Dec. 2022
• That seems to be something that everybody ought to be able to agree to.
  — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 June 2022
• In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.
  — Jackie Frere, Woman's Day, 14 Apr. 2022
• The answer is that the U.K. ought to be boasting the developed world’s brightest prospects right now rather than the worst.
  — Joseph C. Sternberg, WSJ, 16 June 2022
• This, but the state ought offer an online portal where lost your w2.
  — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 20 Oct. 2022
• Kishida said the Russian invasion of Ukraine ought to be a wake-up call for the region.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 11 June 2022
• The phrase suggests that a spouse ought to be a foil, a point of contrast, neither a mirror nor a servant.
  — Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2022
• But the magnitude of the blunders this week ought to sully the airline’s image.
  — Sandy Bankscolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
• And if nothing else, even selfish pricks ought to be able to see that good schools increase the value of their homes.
  — Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 11 July 2022
• But the weakness of the West, and especially of the United States, lies in what ought to be the biggest strength of its case against Putin: the idea of war crimes.
  — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022
• Thanks to them, what ought to have been glaring red flags blended into the background.
  — Holly Thomas, CNN, 20 Jan. 2023
• The grief essay is, or perhaps ought to be, a genre unto itself.
  — Susan Coll, Washington Post, 5 July 2022
• Where are the – which are the charges that the former president ought to really be concerned about?
  — NBC News, 3 July 2022
• At the very least, the dealership ought to replace every single one of your friend’s wheel bolts.
  — Ray Magliozzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2022
• Hermès-grade leather ought to be reason enough to purchase his watch.
  — Yvette Jordan, Town & Country, 17 July 2022
• As with the short rib sandwich at Joy by Seven Reasons, the bistro’s rich smash burger ought to be dropped off with gloves.
  — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2022
• As Darlene Love once sang, nobody ought to be alone at Christmas, but many are.
  — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Dec. 2022
• Keynes was right that the economic problem ought by now to be solved, or within sight of being solved.
  — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 12 Sep. 2022
• Still, knowing what the INB would like to see happen ought to shed some light on what the final agreement will contain.
  — Karen Kaplanscience and Medicine Editor dec. 20, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2022
• The point seems to be that all other styles or approaches of AI ought to bow down to the sub-symbolics approach and toss in the towel.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 May 2022
• If there’s an electric car in your future, maybe there ought to be an EV charger in your driveway.
  — Hiawatha Bray, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2022
• If there’s a prize for most original fragrance packaging, House of Oud ought to be in the running.
  — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 19 Apr. 2022
• Family, where there ought to be the greatest room for patience and grace, seems like the best breeding ground for empathy and understanding.
  — WSJ, 12 Jan. 2023
• That ought mean a potential franchise quarterback and two 2023 impact starters.
  — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2023

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ought

2 of 2 verb

• Maybe there ought to be a system that stops the crises.
  — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 8 Dec. 2022
• In the wake of the tragedy, the city ought to reassess the issue of vacant homes, the union leaders said.
  — Christine Condon, baltimoresun.com, 30 Jan. 2022
• Oven mitts ought to be sources of style points, like this set from West Elm.
  — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 1 Nov. 2022
• For that reason alone, Neilon ought to be Pac-12 lineman of the week.
  — oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2022
• His top-10 in the state ought to mean something to get him into state.
  — Kyle Neddenriep, The Indianapolis Star, 27 May 2022
• The wry thriller really ought to be in the running this time.
  — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
• This is the story that ought to be told, because this is the story that’s true.
  — Alex McElroy, ELLE, 16 Feb. 2022
• That’s what the president ought to do now to repair the damage.
  — Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2022
• Given the breadth of his talents, celebrities and their stylists ought to take note.
  — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2022
• Someone ought to shoot a film of it, just to discredit the Noblest Form of Death once and for all.
  — Michael F. Bishop, WSJ, 25 Mar. 2022
• What remains unclear, though, is the lesson that ought to be drawn from it.
  — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 26 May 2022
• The answer is that the U.K. ought to be boasting the developed world’s brightest prospects right now rather than the worst.
  — Joseph C. Sternberg, WSJ, 16 June 2022
• This, but the state ought offer an online portal where lost your w2.
  — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 20 Oct. 2022
• Kishida said the Russian invasion of Ukraine ought to be a wake-up call for the region.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 11 June 2022
• The phrase suggests that a spouse ought to be a foil, a point of contrast, neither a mirror nor a servant.
  — Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2022
• And precisely where a Supreme Court justice ought to be.
  — CNN, 25 Feb. 2022
• And if nothing else, even selfish pricks ought to be able to see that good schools increase the value of their homes.
  — Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 11 July 2022
• But the weakness of the West, and especially of the United States, lies in what ought to be the biggest strength of its case against Putin: the idea of war crimes.
  — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022
• The grief essay is, or perhaps ought to be, a genre unto itself.
  — Susan Coll, Washington Post, 5 July 2022
• Where are the – which are the charges that the former president ought to really be concerned about?
  — NBC News, 3 July 2022
• At the very least, the dealership ought to replace every single one of your friend’s wheel bolts.
  — Ray Magliozzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2022
• Hermès-grade leather ought to be reason enough to purchase his watch.
  — Yvette Jordan, Town & Country, 17 July 2022
• The San Francisco 49ers aren’t the only ones who ought to be giving thanks for Robbie Gould.
  — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2022
• Keynes was right that the economic problem ought by now to be solved, or within sight of being solved.
  — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 12 Sep. 2022
• Encountering the same problems a second time ought not to be.
  — Wired, 11 Aug. 2022
• If there’s an electric car in your future, maybe there ought to be an EV charger in your driveway.
  — Hiawatha Bray, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2022
• Does anybody in his right mind really believe that the United States ought to play that role?
  — Charles Austin Beard, Harper’s Magazine , 22 June 2022
• The one and only response a mature person ought to have in these scenarios?
  — Andy Meek, BGR, 12 Feb. 2022
• Just letting Moore talk him into that disastrous final play ought to be grounds for dismissal.
  — Dallas News, 23 Jan. 2023
• On Ninth Street one of the places poised for development is a parking lot, which ought to be entirely uncontroversial.
  — Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2022

Last Updated: 17 Jul 2024