meant to (be/do something)

idiom

: intended to (do or be something)

I was never meant to teach.

They knew as soon as they met that they were meant to be together.

I thought we could be friends, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

British : supposed to (be or do something)

The buses are meant to arrive every 15 minutes.

Brighton is meant to be very beautiful at this time of year.

Examples of meant to (be/do something) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Advertisement Over the decades, Castle Peak has garnered the attention of local media, become a social media darling and grown with the Sheegog family, as what once was meant to be a gift for his children has taken on a life of its own. —

Todd Martens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Apr. 2024 Many do this by creating synthetic versions of pheromones meant to enhance your natural scent. —

Ivana Rihter, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2024 This is what the future is meant to sound like—all potential and unlimited imagination. —

Jason Parham, WIRED, 27 Apr. 2024 Appearing at a private event meant to support up-and-coming artists at a bar in New York City's East Village, Weinstein is confronted by a patron and two comediennes outraged by the producer's appearance at the event. —

Chris Francescani, ABC News, 26 Apr. 2024 The Biden administration’s economic policies have mainly focused on large-scale public spending projects meant to boost economic growth, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act, as well as efforts to support unions and step up antitrust enforcement. —

Will Daniel, Fortune, 25 Apr. 2024 The new ordinance, modeled after one adopted in Sunnyvale, is meant to prevent the illicit parlors from taking root in the first place. —

Luis Melecio-Zambrano, The Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2024 California lawmakers kill measure meant to keep politics out of customer utility bills, via Ari Plachta. —

Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 25 Apr. 2024 In other words, these shoes are meant to absorb shock, pressure, and movement for easy, comfortable running on any terrain. —

Alexandra Domrongchai, Travel + Leisure, 24 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meant to (be/do something).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Meant to (be/do something).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meant%20to%20%28be%2Fdo%20something%29. Accessed 1 May. 2024.

Copy Citation