mandatory

adjective

man·da·to·ry | \ ˈman-də-ˌtȯr-ē

Definition of mandatory

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : required by a law or rule : obligatory the mandatory retirement age

2 : of, by, relating to, or holding a League of Nations mandate

mandatory

noun

plural mandatories

Definition of mandatory (Entry 2 of 2)

: one given a mandate especially : a nation holding a mandate from the League of Nations

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Examples of mandatory in a Sentence

Adjective

Parents object to the mandatory nature of the shots—and the fact that their child's access to education hinges on compliance with the immunization regulations. — Alice Park, Time, 2 June 2008 In a move some are calling a "backdoor draft," the Pentagon has announced it will issue mandatory recalls to more than 5,600 Army troops for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. — Nathaniel Frank, Washington Post, 12 July 2004 At the same time, the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which ended mandatory balanced coverage of politics, gave birth to talk radio, and the television universe splintered between the old networks and the new culture of cable gladiators in which opinion was more entertaining than information and cheaper to produce as well. — Nancy Gibbs, Time, 27 Sept. 2004 the tests are mandatory for all students wishing to graduate

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Lyft may never become a profitable company, the company said in disclosures that are mandatory in the IPO process. — Faiz Siddiqui, The Seattle Times, "As it gets set for IPO, Lyft outlines all the reasons ride-sharing could fail," 25 Mar. 2019 Under state law, $15 minimum wage will be mandatory across California by 2022. — Michael Mcgough, sacbee, "Will $15 minimum wage in SF slow down the Bay Area exodus? Here’s what the numbers say," 1 July 2018 The ruling comes despite changes to Malaysian law last year which made the death penalty no longer mandatory for drug mules. — James Griffiths, CNN, "Australian grandmother sentenced to death by hanging for drug smuggling," 24 May 2018 The fiscal year 2020 budget is $300 million more than his preliminary budget released in February, despite city agencies making hundreds of millions in mandatory cuts that the mayor ordered. — Katie Honan, WSJ, "New York City Budget Plan Boosts Spending Again," 25 Apr. 2019 In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the Bangtan Boys opened up about the potentially imminent possibility of the band eventually breaking up due to South Korea’s mandatory military service. — Sara Delgado, Teen Vogue, "BTS Said They Will Likely Eventually Break Up to Serve in the South Korean Military," 23 Apr. 2019 Overseen by the Washington Supreme Court, the bar association is a self-regulating agency of legal professionals that derives its funding through mandatory fees of $453 per year paid by each of its roughly 40,000 members. — Lewis Kamb, The Seattle Times, "Amid turmoil, judge rules Washington State Bar Association must disclose correspondence that explains director’s firing," 14 Apr. 2019 Long-term resolutions the students requested include hiring more faculty of color, student representation on the school’s board of trustees, and the implementation of a mandatory black studies course. — Jameelah Nasheed, Teen Vogue, "How Students of Color Matter are Protesting Racism at Ethical Culture Fieldston School," 14 Mar. 2019 Under the Supreme Court’s pronouncement, a company that binds all its workers to submit to mandatory arbitration may one day decide to quietly and intentionally subtract $1 from each employees paycheck every week, just because. — Cristian Farias, Daily Intelligencer, "The Supreme Court Has Decided to Shut Workers Out of the Courthouse for Good," 21 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This system took millions of dollars to develop and is often pointed to as a working example of upload filters by rights holders and lawmakers who wish to make such technology mandatory for every website which hosts user content online. — Ulrich Kaiser, Ars Technica, "Google: Sorry professor, old Beethoven recordings on YouTube are copyrighted," 3 Sep. 2018 Separately, an Iceland law that took effect Jan. 1 makes equal pay for equal work mandatory in the northern European nation, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality. — Kevin Mccoy, USA TODAY, "Citi to boost pay for women and minorities, closing gaps in the U.S., UK, and Germany," 15 Jan. 2018 Buying such insurance is quasi-mandatory, since banks won’t issue mortgages unless a property is covered. — Emanuel Ubert, Washington Post, "The strange story of how Florida’s lawmakers subsidized hurricane insurance," 13 Sep. 2017 In August, Medicare officials proposed canceling mandatory bundled payments for certain surgeries and scaling back the program for knee and hip replacements. — Chad Terhune, Kaiser Health News, "Why One California County Went Surgery Shopping," 1 Sep. 2017 Tests to check that older vehicles in Washington’s most-populous areas comply with emission regulations: Mandatory. — Jessica Lee, The Seattle Times, "With newer, cleaner cars on the road, is Washington’s vehicle emission test still necessary?," 31 July 2017 But some mandatories come with parole In some cases, a minimum sentence will still be imposed, but the convict would be newly eligible for parole. — Julia O'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Here's how Louisiana sentencing laws are changing under criminal justice reform," 26 June 2017 Like Obamacare, which essentially makes health care mandatory for everyone, insurance coverage is compulsory in Germany. — Patrick May, The Mercury News, "How countries around the world do single-payer health care," 2 June 2017 But some mandatories come with parole In some cases, a minimum sentence will still be imposed, but the convict would be newly eligible for parole. — Julia O'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Here's how Louisiana sentencing laws are changing under criminal justice reform," 26 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mandatory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.