Join free

shouldn't

English · Thesaurus

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.

shouldn't

  • /ˈʃʊdənt/ Australia, US, UK
  • [ˈʃʊdn̩t] Australia, US, UK
  • /ˈʃɵdənt/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈʃɵdn̩t] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈʃʊdənt/ New Zealand
  • [ˈʃʊdn̩t] ~ [ˈʃɵdn̩t] ~ [ˈʃɨ̞dn̩t] New Zealand
  • /ˈʃʉdənt/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
  • [ˈʃʉdn̩t] Northern Ireland, Scotland
  • [ˈʃʊnʔ] Yorkshire

Where it comes from

From should + -n't.

verb

  1. Should not (negative auxiliary) I shouldn't be telling you all this. It'll make you angry.

noun shouldn'ts

  1. informal Something that should not be done. Being a list-o-maniac, I suggested we make a list of the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts." So in the darkness of hazy sleep, I began to mentally prepare mine. The first item on the "should" side was easy: a sibling for our 3-year-old daughter.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: oughtn't to, must not, negative, need not, never, never again, shut up, don't, no more, never ever, neva, not likely, nay, far from, no, not even

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"shouldn't." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shouldn't. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

shouldn't. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shouldn't

Chicago

"shouldn't." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shouldn't.

BibTeX
@misc{shouldn_t_2026,
  title = {shouldn't},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shouldn't},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}