Word.ws English Dictionary

mayn't

Syllables: may·n't/ˈmeɪnt/

mayn't verb: may not (negative auxiliary).

Verb

mayn't (third-person singular simple present mayn't, no present participle, simple past mightn't, no past participle)

  1. (archaic, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) may not (negative auxiliary)
    • I mayn't have much head, master, but I’ve head enough to remember those that use me ill.1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 40.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
    • "Now, father," said Nancy, "is there any call for you to go home to tea? Mayn't you just as well stay with us?--such a beautiful evening as it's likely to be."1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC

Examples of mayn't in a sentence

  • "Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it—"1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Mock Turtle’s Story”, in Alice’s Adventures in...
  • You mayn't hardly believe it, but at the present moment I am absolutely without a farthing.1914, Saki, The Romancers:
  • Still - if people don't relish this place, mayn't it be because it's getting so run-down?1930, H. P. Lovecraft, Madusa's Coil:

Forms of mayn't

third-person singular presentmayn't
pastmightn't

Origin of mayn't

From may + -n't.

Words that rhyme with mayn't

10 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about mayn't

What does mayn't mean?
Mayn't means may not (negative auxiliary).
How do you use mayn't in a sentence?
"Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it—"
What part of speech is mayn't?
Mayn't is a verb.
How do you pronounce mayn't?
Mayn't is pronounced /ˈmeɪnt/.
What is the past tense of mayn't?
The past tense of mayn't is mightn't.

Words near mayn't in the dictionary

  1. Maymi
  2. Maymi River
  3. Maymorn
  4. Maymyo
  5. Mayn
  6. mayn't
  7. Mayna
  8. Maynard
  9. Maynard's cuckoo
  10. Maynards
  11. Maynardville

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mayn'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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-mayn't.wav.

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