Shoulda

//ˈʃʊdə// verb, slang

verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1
Contraction of should + have. abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, contraction, past, subjunctive
"You shoulda told him the truth."

Synonyms

should've should've

Example

"You shoulda told him the truth."

Etymology

Written form of a reduction of should have.

Related phrases

woulda, coulda, shoulda

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