oughta

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

oughta

  • /ˈɔːtə/ UK
  • /ˈɔtə/ US
  • [ˈɔɾə] US
  • /ˈɑtə/ cot caught merger
  • [ˈɑɾə] cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɔːtə

contraction orter

  1. abbreviation, colloquial, contraction, dialectal Contraction of ought to There oughta be a law against that.
  2. abbreviation, colloquial, contraction, dialectal Contraction of ought to + have. You oughta been here an hour ago.

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"oughta." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/oughta. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

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

Chicago

"oughta." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/oughta.

BibTeX
@misc{oughta_2026,
  title = {oughta},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/oughta},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}