wouldn't

UK, US/ˈwʊdn̩t/US[wʊdⁿn̩t]US[wʊɾənt]US[ˈwʊʔn̩t]

verb

would not (negative auxiliary)

“Wouldn't you often have supper on the terrace on Sundays?”

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Meanings

verb

alternative archaic wo'n't · alternative obsolete wou'dn't · alternative pronunciation spelling wudn't · alternative Yorkshire pronunciation spelling wunt

  1. would not (negative auxiliary)

    Wouldn't you often have supper on the terrace on Sundays?

    1 more example

    She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.

    1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

Origin

Contraction of would + not, equivalent to would + -n't.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with wouldn't

puntoont
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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