have-not

noun

ˈhav-ˌnät How to pronounce have-not (audio)
-ˈnät
: one that is poor especially in material wealth

Examples of have-not in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Financial inequality and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots are big issues for a broad comedy to tackle, but scenes like Arj waiting in line for hours to pick up a rich guy's gourmet donut puts those things into an entertaining perspective. Brian Truitt, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025 And a look at some federal and state data about Orange County tracked from the start of 2019 through the end of 2023, shows just how badly the local have-nots are being routed. Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 6 Oct. 2025 It’s been a year of haves and have-nots for the industrials, with companies heavily tied to data center construction, electrification, power generation, and aerospace largely outperforming the rest of the sector. Jeff Marks, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2025 Things will get even worse since the AGI haves will presumably flourish in new ways and far outpace the AGI have-nots. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for have-not

Word History

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of have-not was in 1836

Cite this Entry

“Have-not.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/have-not. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

have-not

noun
ˈhav-ˌnät,
-ˈnät
: one that is poor in material wealth

More from Merriam-Webster on have-not

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