Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

obligatory

 adjective
     
ob‧lig‧a‧to‧ry
1 formal something that is obligatory must be done because of a law, rule etc [= compulsory, mandatory]
it is obligatory for somebody (to do something)
It is obligatory for companies to provide details of their industrial processes.
2 [only before noun] used humorously to describe something that is always done or included in a particular situation:
She offered him the obligatory cup of tea.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary