Word.ws English Dictionary

might as well

/maɪt æzˈwɛl/

might as well verb: used to express somewhat reluctant assent, saying that if one situation exists (or because it does exist), another event or situation that would otherwise be undesirable, difficult, impossible, etc., becomes more feasible or reasonable, or would not make a difference.

Verb

might as well

  1. (idiomatic) Used to express somewhat reluctant assent, saying that if one situation exists (or because it does exist), another event or situation that would otherwise be undesirable, difficult, impossible, etc., becomes more feasible or reasonable, or would not make a difference.
    • You arrived too early, but since you're here, you might as well come in.
    • Macarons are very difficult to make, so you might as well make plentiful if you do decide to make any.
  2. (idiomatic) Used to liken one situation to another, typically saying that the existence of one situation is equivalent to the existence of another, usually more extreme, situation.
    • You're going to tell her what I said about her? You might as well shoot me!
    • What a waste of time this has been. We might as well have stayed at home.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see might, as well.
    • I want to go, and he might as well.
    Synonyms:
    may as well, as well

Examples of might as well in a sentence

  • Razors pain you; / Rivers are damp; / Acids stain you; / And drugs cause cramp. / Guns aren’t lawful; / Nooses give; / Gas smells awful; / You might as well live.1926, Dorothy Parker, “Résumé,”, in Enough Rope:
  • And the girl, says, Yeah, sure, might as well, and off they go.2004, Melvin Burgess, Doing It:
  • William Tebb, who, though all were examined and cross-examined on the minutest details, might as well never have appeared so far as any notice in the Final Report is concerned.1898, Alfred Russel Wallace, Vaccination a Delusion:
  • We asked Miss Maudie to elucidate: she said Miss Stephanie seemed to know so much about the case she might as well be called on to testify.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

Synonyms of might as well

Forms of might as well

alternative formminus well

Questions about might as well

What does might as well mean?
Might as well means used to express somewhat reluctant assent, saying that if one situation exists (or because it does exist), another event or situation that would otherwise be undesirable, difficult, impossible, etc., becomes more feasible or reasonable, or would not make a difference.
How do you use might as well in a sentence?
Razors pain you; / Rivers are damp; / Acids stain you; / And drugs cause cramp. / Guns aren’t lawful; / Nooses give; / Gas smells awful; / You might as well live.
What part of speech is might as well?
Might as well is a verb.
How do you pronounce might as well?
Might as well is pronounced /maɪt æzˈwɛl/.

Words near might as well in the dictionary

  1. Miggies
  2. Miggins
  3. Miggy
  4. might
  5. might and main
  6. might as well
  7. might can
  8. might could
  9. might is right
  10. might makes right
  11. might of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: might as well (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-might as well.ogg.

Cite this entry: “might as well.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/might_as_well. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.