had better

English · Thesaurus

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had better

Where it comes from

By surface analysis, had + better. See better (adverb).

verb 'd better · better

idiomatic, informal, with infinitive Should; ought to; need to; must. You had better finish that homework on time, if you want to get a good grade.
Similar: had best

Translations

Every language

verb should; ought to; must

Español	valer más, pobre de, más vale que, mejor que, sería mejor que, más valerle que
中文	最好 zuìhǎo
Português	seria melhor, deveria
Français	valoir mieux, avoir intérêt, faire bien de
Italiano	dovere
Română	face bine

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MLA

"had better." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/had%20better. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

had better. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/had%20better

Chicago

"had better." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/had%20better.

BibTeX

@misc{had_better_2026,
  title = {had better},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/had%20better},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}