had better

verb

had better

verb

Etymology See better (adverb)

1

Idiomatic, Informal, With infinitive Should; ought to; need to; must.

You had better finish that homework on time, if you want to get a good grade.
“Will we get it finished?” / “We had better.”

2 more examples

The project had better get finished by the current deadline.
I ought to go and see Mike one of these days. - Well, you'd better do it soon, because he’s leaving for Tanzania at the end of the week.

Synonyms: had best

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.