# hadn't

Pronunciation: say "HAD-uhnt" /ˈhæd.(ə.)nt/

## Verb

1. Contraction of had not. *(colloquial)* — Contraction of had not (negative auxiliary)
   - Simple: Short way of saying had not, as in "We hadn't met before" or "If I hadn't seen it."
   - _By the time we arrived, the show hadn't started._
   - _He hadn't eaten all day and was completely exhausted._

## Origin

A contraction of "had" plus the suffix "-n't," a shortened form of "not."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hadn-t (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).