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 Take for example the slapstick shot of Maxine scaling the back wall of the resort right in the show’s opening moments — giving a literal representation to the separation between the haves and have-nots. Tom Smyth, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2024 Subsequently at school all students receive nourishment from sitting together at the lunch table to break bread as equal peers, with no distinction between haves and have-nots. Nick Gauthier, Hartford Courant, 17 Feb. 2024 But other organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, have differential voting quotas, and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty formally divides the world into nuclear haves and have-nots. G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021 In a recent interview with Fortune, Dominik Asam, CFO of the German software giant SAP, described how larger companies’ data advantage could produce a haves and have-nots landscape. Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 29 May 2024 Did in-class computing solve the divide between technology haves and have-nots? Jessica A. Stansbury, Baltimore Sun, 1 Mar. 2024 In the real estate brokerage industry, as in the housing market — where median home prices are now six times the median American income and a majority of American renters are spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities — there is a chasm between the haves and have-nots. Debra Kamin, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2024 The International Monetary Fund warned earlier this year that some 40% of jobs around the world could be affected by the rise of AI, and that this trend will likely deepen the already cavernous gulf between the haves and have-nots. Catherine Thorbecke, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024 In my perspective, the real fear isn't AI itself but the fear of being sorted into a class of the haves and have-nots. Cheryl Goodman, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'have-not.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined above

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

Dictionary Entries Near have-not

Cite this Entry

“Have-not.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/have-not. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

Kids Definition

have-not

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

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