"couldn't've" meaning in English

See couldn't've in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Contraction

IPA: /ˈkʊd(ə)n(t)ə(v)/ [US] Forms: couldn’t’ve [canonical]
Etymology: From couldn't + -'ve. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|couldn't|-'ve|text=+|tree=1}} From couldn't + -'ve. Head templates: {{head|en|contraction|head=couldn’t’ve}} couldn’t’ve
  1. (nonstandard) Could not have. Tags: contraction, nonstandard Synonyms: couldna [colloquial] Related terms: shouldn't've, wouldn't've, oughtn't've

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "couldn't",
        "4": "-'ve",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "From couldn't + -'ve.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From couldn't + -'ve.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "couldn’t’ve",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": "couldn’t’ve"
      },
      "expansion": "couldn’t’ve",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing missing etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology texts",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -'ve",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Could not have."
      ],
      "id": "en-couldn't've-en-contraction-DS-0yEtd",
      "links": [
        [
          "Could",
          "could"
        ],
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ],
        [
          "have",
          "have"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nonstandard) Could not have."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "shouldn't've"
        },
        {
          "word": "wouldn't've"
        },
        {
          "word": "oughtn't've"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "couldna"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʊd(ə)n(t)ə(v)/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "couldn't've"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "couldn't",
        "4": "-'ve",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "From couldn't + -'ve.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From couldn't + -'ve.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "couldn’t’ve",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": "couldn’t’ve"
      },
      "expansion": "couldn’t’ve",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "shouldn't've"
    },
    {
      "word": "wouldn't've"
    },
    {
      "word": "oughtn't've"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English auxiliary verb forms",
        "English contractions",
        "English double contractions",
        "English entries referencing missing etymons",
        "English entries with etymology texts",
        "English entries with etymology trees",
        "English entries with etymon",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English non-lemma forms",
        "English nonstandard terms",
        "English terms suffixed with -'ve",
        "Pages using etymon with no ID",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Pages with etymology trees",
        "Pages with etymon"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Could not have."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Could",
          "could"
        ],
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ],
        [
          "have",
          "have"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nonstandard) Could not have."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʊd(ə)n(t)ə(v)/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "couldna"
    }
  ],
  "word": "couldn't've"
}

Download raw JSONL data for couldn't've meaning in English (1.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.