In the US, attending school through the twelfth grade, driving on the right side of the road, and obtaining a social security number are all mandatory . The phrase " mandatory requirement" is redundant. Mandatory means that people have to do something because it is a rule or a law. It can also mean that a crime has a fixed punishment or that a state has a mandate over a territory. The meaning of MANDATORY is required by a law or rule : obligatory . How to use mandatory in a sentence. Did you know? Mandatory definition: authoritatively ordered; obligatory; compulsory .. See examples of MANDATORY used in a sentence.