oughta
/ˈɔtə/contraction
oughta is spelled O-U-G-H-T-A: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a contraction, oughta means “Contraction of ought to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in oughta?
| Letters | 6: O-U-G-H-T-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is oughta?
Oughta appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce oughta?
- UK /ˈɔːtə/
- US /ˈɔtə/
- US [ˈɔɾə]
Oughta has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-oughta.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of oughta
- orter
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oughta mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
contraction
- 1
colloquialContraction of ought to.
There oughta be a law against that.
- 2
colloquialContraction of ought to + have.
You oughta been here an hour ago.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).