Coulda

//ˈkʊdə// verb, slang

verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    Contraction of could + have. abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, contraction

    "You coulda told him the truth."

Synonyms

All synonyms
could ofcould ofcould'vecould've

Example

More examples

"You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am."

Etymology

Written form of a reduction of could have.

Related phrases

woulda, coulda, shoulda

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.