Definition of might-have-been in US English:
might-have-been
nounˈmaɪd əv ˌbɪnˈmīd əv ˌbin
informal A past possibility that no longer applies.
fretting about might-have-beens won't get us anywhere
Example sentencesExamples
- The main theme rounded out, speaking of loss, reminding of might-have-beens.
- But the shoulders have widened and the appetite for victory sharpened by a few years' reflection on the might-have-beens.
- The might-have-beens preoccupy us as a random natural disaster never can.
- You could say this was a match about might-have-beens.
- The other might-have-been concerns the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy.
- A letter from an old flame fluttered to the welcome mat this week, tinged with the rosy glow of nostalgia and giving off a faint melancholy whiff of might-have-beens.
- Counterfactual history - the history of might-have-beens - then becomes much more than an exercise in subjective speculation.
- A subtle gesture, a quick flight into rage, that sassy line of dialogue - all these might-have-beens can keep bit-players from becoming stars, or stars becoming legends.
- This opens up a lost world of might-have-beens.
- Still, there are few might-have-beens that taste as good as this one.
- He had his share of abandoned projects, what the author refers to as ‘Leonardo's might-have-beens.’
- One is left to reflect on the many might-have-beens and the extreme narrowness between victory and a severe setback.