wouldn't've

English

Etymology

would +‎ -n't +‎ -'ve

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwʊd(ə)n(t)ə(v)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Contraction

wouldn't've

1. (colloquial) Contraction of would +‎ not +‎ have.
   • 1936, Eugene Morehead Armfield, Where the Weak Grow Strong, page 115:

     Anyway, my Daddy said if you wasn’t such a coward, trying to haze that boy with a big bunch of others, you wouldn’t’ve got shot in the first place […]

   • 1950, Irwin Shaw, Mixed Company: Collected Short Stories of Irwin Shaw, page 276:

     […] if there had been a man around, taking hold of things, her father’s partner wouldn’t’ve been able to get away with most of the estate the way he did…

   • 1983, Elias Canetti, Comedy of Vanity and Life-Terms, page 47:

     I didn’t bring him here. If you wouldn’t have gone out, I wouldn’t have either. I’d have thrown him out right away. He wouldn’t’ve made it through the door.

   • 2006 October, Goff Morgan, "We Wouldn't've Had To Do It" (poem).

Synonyms

• wouldna (colloquial)
• wouldn'ta (colloquial)

See also

• couldn't've
• shouldn't've
• oughtn't've