gotta
verbUK /ˈɡɒtə/ · US /ˈɡɑtə/
Etymology Contraction of got + to.
1
Colloquial, No past participle, No present participle Synonym of have got to, have to
- I gotta learn this for my exam.
- If there's beer, dude, you don't even gotta ask.
2 more examples
- “All right, let’s go. They must have sake, eh? Oh, Izuna, will you come along?” “If they have fish or meat, you don’t gotta ask, please.”2016, Yuu Kamiya, translated by Daniel Komen, No Game No Life, volume 4:
- Clavicular, characteristically, attributed his good luck with the criminal justice system to his looks. “You just gotta mog,” he posted on X, above a screenshot of a news headline.2026 February 13, Joseph Bernstein, “Handsome at Any Cost”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026:
- Derived terms
- I gotta love you and leave you