should.
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable.
Meaning & usage
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable. Used to issue an instruction (traditionally seen as carrying less force of authority than alternatives such as 'shall' or 'must').
You should never drink and drive.
The law is clear that you should always wear a seat belt.
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable. Used to give advice or opinion that an action is, or would have been, beneficial or desirable.
You should go and see that film. I think you'll enjoy it.
Should we go and see the police, do you think?
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable. With verbs such as 'see' or 'hear', usually in the second person, used to point out something remarkable in either a good or bad way.
Ought to; indicating opinion, advice, or instruction, about what is required or desirable. In questions, asks what is correct, proper, desirable, etc.
What do you think? What should I do?
Ought to; expressing expectation. Indicates that something is expected to have happened or to be the case now.
They should have finished by now; I'll call them to check.
My fruit trees should be in flower, but the cold spring has set them back.
Ought to; expressing expectation. Will be likely to (become or do something); indicates a degree of possibility or probability that the stated thing will happen or be true in the future.
They should have it finished by Friday.
When you press this button, the pilot flame should ignite.
Used to form a variant of the present subjunctive, expressing a state or action that is hypothetical, potential, mandated, etc.
If I should be late, I should hope that you are prepared to go on without me.
Should you need extra blankets, you will find them in the closet.
An alternative to would with first person subjects. Used to express a conditional outcome.
If I had not been so tired, I should have laughed heartily.
An alternative to would with first person subjects. Used to impart a tentative, conjectural or polite nuance.
I should imagine that they have arrived by now.
I should think you would apologize.
An alternative to would with first person subjects. Used to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
To suggest (that someone ought to do something, or that something ought to be the case) by, or as if by, using the word should.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
Something that ought to be the case as opposed to already being the case.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
simple past of shall
I told him that I should be busy tomorrow.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
Try it on your idea.
should has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.