How to Use ought in a Sentence

ought

1 of 2 auxiliary verb

• In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.
  — Jackie Frere, Woman's Day, 14 Apr. 2022
• Oven mitts ought to be sources of style points, like this set from West Elm.
  — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 1 Nov. 2022
• The wry thriller really ought to be in the running this time.
  — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
• That seems to be something that everybody ought to be able to agree to.
  — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 June 2022
• Hermès-grade leather ought to be reason enough to purchase his watch.
  — Yvette Jordan, Town & Country, 17 July 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
• This is the story that ought to be told, because this is the story that’s true.
  — Alex McElroy, ELLE, 16 Feb. 2022
• This, but the state ought offer an online portal where lost your w2.
  — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 20 Oct. 2022
• The grief essay is, or perhaps ought to be, a genre unto itself.
  — Susan Coll, Washington Post, 5 July 2022
• Thanks to them, what ought to have been glaring red flags blended into the background.
  — Holly Thomas, CNN, 20 Jan. 2023
• Who needs a trial when it is known with absolute certainty who ought to be gunned down?
  — Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2022
• Don't let your ideas about how things ought to be overshadow what is actually in front of you.
  — Chicago Tribune, 18 June 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
• 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
• 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
• For that reason alone, Neilon ought to be Pac-12 lineman of the week.
  — oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2022
• Our culture suggests that ending a relationship on good terms ought to be the goal.
  — Ellen Nguyen, refinery29.com, 6 Mar. 2022
• The one and only response a mature person ought to have in these scenarios?
  — Andy Meek, BGR, 12 Feb. 2022
• Those who already have a set of all-weather car floor mats ought to consider protecting the trunk.
  — Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 21 Dec. 2022
• Where are the – which are the charges that the former president ought to really be concerned about?
  — NBC News, 3 July 2022
• But the magnitude of the blunders this week ought to sully the airline’s image.
  — Sandy Bankscolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
• McGraw said kids ought to be able to seek out books about sensitive subjects such as race or gender.
  — David Ingram, NBC News, 12 May 2022
• As Darlene Love once sang, nobody ought to be alone at Christmas, but many are.
  — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Dec. 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
• Kishida said the Russian invasion of Ukraine ought to be a wake-up call for the region.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 11 June 2022
• Her opinions represented a certain time, and some ideas about how a girl should behave, for instance, ought to be left in the past.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 3 Mar. 2022
• Does the modernist believe that honors ought to accrue to the dishonorable?
  — WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022
• The trial resumes Tuesday, and the jurors ought to get comfortable.
  — CBS News, 9 Oct. 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
• What James is really doing is staking a set of claims about what words mean, how ideas work in the world, and what our politics ought to look like.
  — Ian Beacock, The New Republic, 22 Feb. 2022

ought

2 of 2 verb

• Oven mitts ought to be sources of style points, like this set from West Elm.
  — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 1 Nov. 2022
• The wry thriller really ought to be in the running this time.
  — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
• Hermès-grade leather ought to be reason enough to purchase his watch.
  — Yvette Jordan, Town & Country, 17 July 2022
• What remains unclear, though, is the lesson that ought to be drawn from it.
  — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 26 May 2022
• His top-10 in the state ought to mean something to get him into state.
  — Kyle Neddenriep, The Indianapolis Star, 27 May 2022
• This is the story that ought to be told, because this is the story that’s true.
  — Alex McElroy, ELLE, 16 Feb. 2022
• Given the breadth of his talents, celebrities and their stylists ought to take note.
  — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2022
• This, but the state ought offer an online portal where lost your w2.
  — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 20 Oct. 2022
• The grief essay is, or perhaps ought to be, a genre unto itself.
  — Susan Coll, Washington Post, 5 July 2022
• That’s what the president ought to do now to repair the damage.
  — Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 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
• Who needs a trial when it is known with absolute certainty who ought to be gunned down?
  — Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2022
• The trick is figuring out exactly how much each woman ought to be screened.
  — Angus Chen, STAT, 30 June 2022
• Building an entirely new world order of this sort ought to puff up dramas great and small.
  — Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 16 June 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
• 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
• Encountering the same problems a second time ought not to be.
  — Wired, 11 Aug. 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
• For that reason alone, Neilon ought to be Pac-12 lineman of the week.
  — oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2022
• Our culture suggests that ending a relationship on good terms ought to be the goal.
  — Ellen Nguyen, refinery29.com, 6 Mar. 2022
• The one and only response a mature person ought to have in these scenarios?
  — Andy Meek, BGR, 12 Feb. 2022
• Homeless people ought to have the benefit of doctors’ skills.
  — Tracy Kidder, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2023
• Where are the – which are the charges that the former president ought to really be concerned about?
  — NBC News, 3 July 2022
• McGraw said kids ought to be able to seek out books about sensitive subjects such as race or gender.
  — David Ingram, NBC News, 12 May 2022
• The pros and former pros ought to be in their own category for each gravel distance, in my opinion.
  — Rob Reed, Forbes, 11 Oct. 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
• Kishida said the Russian invasion of Ukraine ought to be a wake-up call for the region.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 11 June 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
• Her opinions represented a certain time, and some ideas about how a girl should behave, for instance, ought to be left in the past.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 3 Mar. 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