wasn't
was·n't/ˈwɒz.ənt/verb
wasn't is spelled W-A-S-N-T, 2 syllables: was·n't. The wrong spelling people search most is wasnt: about 150 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 3 in 10 of all searches for the word. Wasn't is a verb meaning “Contraction of was + not”.
How many letters and syllables are in wasn't?
| Letters | 5: W-A-S-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: was·n't |
| In writing | 191 times per million words; the 531st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, wasnt, about 150 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell wasn't?
Wasn't is spelled W-A-S-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 3 in 10 of the searches for wasn't in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is wasn't?
Wasn't appears 191 times per million words in written English, the 531st 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 wasn't?
- UK /ˈwɒz.ənt/
- UK [ˈwɒz.n̩(ʔ)]
- UK [ˈwɒn.(ʔ)]
Wasn't has 2 syllables, split was·n't in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wasn't.wav, En-us-wasn't.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wasn't
- wadn't
- warn't
- wudn't
- wunt
- wa'n't
- wan't
- wazn't
- wuzn't
- wuzzent
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wasn't mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Contraction of was + not.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does wasn't come from?
Contraction of was + not. By surface analysis, was + -n't.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).