Word.ws English Dictionary

might could

might could verb: might be able to (used to soften "could" or make it even more conditional).

Verb

might could

  1. (Southern US, double modal / stacked modal) might be able to (used to soften "could" or make it even more conditional)
    • "Grammaw, Mr. Hammer said today you know things you won't talk about. That if he knew more about what's goin' on he might could go to the police, or to a lawyer, and maybe have Dunreith Smith arrested again."1972-1991, Cyrus Colter, The Rivers of Eros →ISBN, page 133 http://books.google.com/books?id=MY6J8etc8jAC&lpg=PA133&dq=%22he%20might%20could%20go%22&pg=PR6#v=onepage&q=%22he%20might%20could%20go%22&f=...
    • "He might could go there anyway and stay on academic probation for a year and then start running, but they won't accept him if he don't have a high school diploma."2002-3, Michael Johnston, In the Deep Heart's Core →ISBN, page 172 http://books.google.com/books?id=_rqWu8NTKBsC&lpg=PA172&dq=%22he%20might%20could%20go%22&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q=%22he%20might%20could%2...

Origin of might could

In many Germanic languages and dialects modals can be stacked to combine their meanings; compare Scots micht cud.

Questions about might could

What does might could mean?
Might could means might be able to (used to soften "could" or make it even more conditional).
What part of speech is might could?
Might could is a verb.

Words near might could in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: might could (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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Cite this entry: “might could.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/might_could. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.