Phrase guide

dos and don'ts

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌduːz‿n̩ ˈdəʊnts/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌduz‿n̩ ˈdoʊnts/
  • rhymes with -əʊnts

1

noun

Meaning 1

A set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation; a set of guidelines or rules that one has to or ought to follow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, plural-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From dos (“plural of do (“something that can or should be done”)”) + and + don’ts (“plural of don’t (“something that must or should not be done”)”).

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 行為準則 /行为准则 (xíngwéi zhǔnzé) — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Finnish: ohjeet — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Finnish: säännöt — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Georgian: რა უნდა გააკეთოთ და რა არ უნდა გააკეთოთ (ra unda gaaḳetot da ra ar unda gaaḳetot) — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Georgian: რისი გაკეთება შეიძლება და რისი გაკეთება არ შეიძლება (risi gaḳeteba šeiʒleba da risi gaḳeteba ar šeiʒleba) — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Georgian: როგორ უნდა მოიქცეთ და როგორ არ უნდა მოიქცეთ (rogor unda moikcet da rogor ar unda moikcet) — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Hungarian: ami kötelező és ami tilos — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Hungarian: amit szabad és amit nem — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Hungarian: viselkedési szabályok — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Russian: всё, что можно и нельзя (vsjo, što možno i nelʹzja) — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Serbo-Croatian: poželjno i nepoželjno — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation
  • Spanish: decálogo — set of things that one should do or not do in a particular situation