Word.ws English Dictionary

ain't

/eɪnt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

dialectal/ɪnt/

ain't verb: am not.

Verb

ain't

  1. (dialectal, informal, nonstandard) Am not.
    • I ain’t ready yet; gimme a sec.
    • Ain’t I a woman?
    Synonyms:
    amn't, an't
  2. (dialectal, informal, nonstandard) Are not, aren’t; is not, isn’t.
    • That ain't right.
    • We figure in lively paint:
      Our attitude’s queer and quaint —
      You’re wrong if you think it ain’t, oh!1885, Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado
  3. (dialectal, informal, nonstandard) Have not, haven’t; has not, hasn’t, when used as an auxiliary.
    • 'Okay, okay. Keep yo shirt on. Ah ain't done nuthen wrong.'1954, Ian Fleming, “The Everglades”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 124
    • These people ain’t seen a brown skin man since their grandparents bought one1996, “Down Rodeo” (00:31 from the start), in Evil Empire, performed by Rage Against the Machine
    Synonyms:
    hain't, han't
  4. (dialectal, informal, nonstandard) Don’t, doesn’t.
    • Well, I ain’t wanna do that though.
    • “I ain’t like it; I ain’t like it a tall.^([sic])” Jesse leaned down to help Israel. Then he stood back up and shouted again, “Youes crazy! Youes both crazy!” “Crazy we’z may be, but we’z still living and Ben dare ain’t.”2009 June 1, Sandra Kay, Haunted Secrets, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 248
  5. (dialectal, informal, nonstandard) Didn’t.
    • I ain’t go into the bathroom last night that late.
    • My son died, he ain’t live but I still try to think positive ’cause in life God take, God give.2006 September 16, “Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story” (track 4), in Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell, performed by Jedi Mind Tricks

Synonyms of ain't

Forms of ain't

alternative formain'
alternative forma'n't
alternative formarn't
alternative formar'n't

Origin of ain't

According to Etymology Online, the term was first attested in 1706 meaning am not, and it was used with that sense until the early 19th century, when it began to be used as a generic contraction for are not, is not, etc. in the Cockney dialect. It was then “popularized by representations of London cockney dialect in Dickens, etc., which led to the word being banished […] from correct English”. The shift from /ænt/ to /eɪnt/ parallels a similar change some dialects made to can't. In other dialects, the pronunciation shifted to /ɑːnt/, and the spelling aren't, when used to mean “am not”, is due to the fact that both words are pronounced /ɑːnt/ in some non-rhotic dialects. Historically, ain't was present in many dialects of the English language, but not in the southeastern England dialect that became the standard, where it is only found in the construction ain't I. It has become widely known through modern media, although it is much more common in some areas of the English-speaking world than others (e.g. it is less common in Yorkshire). As a contraction of have not and has not, ain't derives from the earlier form han't, which shifted from /hænt/ to /heɪnt/, and underwent h-dropping...

Words formed from ain't

Phrases with ain't

18 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with ain't

10 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about ain't

What does ain't mean?
Ain't means am not.
What part of speech is ain't?
Ain't is a verb.
How do you pronounce ain't?
Ain't is pronounced /eɪnt/.

Words near ain't in the dictionary

  1. Aimée
  2. ain
  3. Ain Sof
  4. Ain Sokhna
  5. ain'
  6. ain't
  7. ain't no bones about it
  8. ain't no shame in my game
  9. ain't no telling
  10. ain't nothing but a thang
  11. ain't nuthin' but a thang

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ain't (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ain't.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ain't.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ain%27t. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.