doesn't

UK/ˈdʌz.ənt/UK[ˈdʌz.n̩t]UK, colloquial/ˈdʌn(t)/US/ˈdʌd.ənt/

verb

Does not (negative auxiliary)

Similar

Meanings

verb

alternative does n't · alternative do's n't

  1. Does not (negative auxiliary)

    Well, I must borrow Epidicus's help, tho' I pay dearly for th' use of 't ; but I shall send him to '''Bridewel with his Skin stript o're his Ears, if he ''doesn't procure the hundred Pounds as soon as the last Word's pronounc'd.

    '1694, Laurence Echard, Plautus's Comedies, Amphitryon, Epidicus, and Rudens: Made English: With Critical Remarks Upon Each Play., London, page 89
    3 more examples

    The Furr'd Law-cats are most terrible and dreadful Monsters, they devour little Children, and trample over Marble-Stones. Pray tell me, Noble Topers, do they not deserve to have their Snouts slit ? The Hair of their Hides do's n't lie outward, but inwards; and every Mother's Son of 'em, for his Devise, wears a gaping Pouch, but not all in the same manner; for some wear it ty'd to their Neck Scarfwise, others upon the Breech, some on the Paunch, others on the Side, and all for a Cause, with Reason and Mystery: They have Claws so very strong, long, and sharp, that nothing can get from 'em, that is once fast between their Clutches: Sometimes they cover their Heads with Mortar-like Caps, at other times with mortify'd Caparisons.

    1693, François Rabelais, translated by Peter Anthony Motteux, The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais..., volume 2, London: Navarre Society Limited, translation of original in French, page 321

    July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttps://web.archive.org/web/20130918201706/http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/ Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment.

    Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).

    2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12
  2. archaicdialectalDost not

    But Pre'thee tell me, that Woman had very Considerable Friends. Thou doesn't hear that she has Peacht any body, dost thou?

    1681, Roger L'Estrange, “The Observator. In Dialogue. Numb. 78. Wednesday, December 7. 1681.”, in The Observator in Dialogue, volume 1, published 1684, page 78

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

Origin

  1. Englishdoes
  2. Proto-Indo-European*né
  3. Proto-Germanic*ne
  4. Proto-West Germanic*ne
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ey-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂óyu
  7. Proto-Germanic*aiwaz
  8. Proto-West Germanic*aiw
  9. Proto-West Germanic*naiw
  10. Proto-Indo-European*wekʷ-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*wékʷtisder.?
  12. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*wéǵʰtisder.?
  14. Proto-Germanic*wihtą
  15. Proto-West Germanic*wiht
  16. Proto-West Germanic*naiwwiht
  17. Old Englishnāwiht
  18. Old English*nōht
  19. Middle Englishnought
  20. Middle Englishnot
  21. Englishnot
  22. Englishdoesn't

From does + -n't.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 不
  • 不 (bù)does not

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with doesn't

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

doesn't. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doesn't

MLA

“doesn't.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doesn't. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doesn't,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doesn't.

Source: doesn't on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.