Couldn't've

//ˈkʊd(ə)n(t)ə(v)// contraction

contraction ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Contraction
  1. 1
    Could not have. contraction, nonstandard

Synonyms

All synonyms
couldna

Example

More examples

"My timing couldn't've been better."

Etymology

couldn't + -'ve.

More for "couldn't've"

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