have-not

Meanings

nounhave-not (plural have-nots)

contrastiveidiomaticusuallyA poor or underprivileged person.
A longtime advocate for racial and social justice with a degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, Walker, 40, got into politics at the urging of Edwards, an African American woman widely praised as a bridge-builder between the city’s haves and have-nots.
2021 April 5, Laura Vozzella, “Charlottesville mayor says graphic poem illustrates Black experience in city”, in The Washington Post
Antonyms: have
idiomaticuncommonOne who does not have some (contextually specified) thing.

nounA poor or underprivileged person.

Opposite

nouna person with few or no possessions

Similar

poor person

Broader

unfortunateunfortunate person

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry

APA

have-not. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have-not

MLA

“have-not.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have-not. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have-not,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have-not.

Source: have-not on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.