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whatever

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishwhatever. Bysurface analysis,what +‎ever.

Pronunciation

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The/t/ inwhatever may beflapped in certain dialects, despite the fact that it precedes a stressed vowel, due to the morpheme boundary betweenwhat andever.

Determiner

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whatever

  1. (interrogative)Whatever;emphatic form of 'what'.
    Good heavens!Whatever time is it?!
  2. Regardless of the ... that; for any ... that.
    Whatever choice you make, there will be consequences.
    I will stick with you,whatever fate befalls us.
  3. Any ... that; of no matter what type or kind that.
    Whatever doubts I had were quickly dispelled.
    Write downwhatever thoughts come into your mind.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson],In Memoriam, London:Edward Moxon, [],→OCLC, Canto XVII,page28:
      So maywhatever tempest mars
      ⁠Mid-ocean, spare thee, sacred bark;
      ⁠And balmy drops in summer dark
      Slide from the bosom of the stars.
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster,The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.:Field Museum of Natural History,→ISBN, page viii:
      Whatever utility the work may have outside of its stated boundaries will be largely because of such a nonprovincial approach.
    • 1997, Warren S. Brown, Nancey C. Murphy, H. Newton Malony,Whatever Happened to the Soul?:, page115:
      In an expression that reflects the pathos of a person without memory of a recent past, Milner quotes H.M. as saying, "Every day is alone in itself,whatever enjoyment I've had, andwhatever sorrow I've had Right now, I'm wondering. Have I done or said anything amiss? That's what worries me. It's like waking from a dream; I just don't remember."
  4. Any; of no matter what type or kind.
    He must be stopped,whatever the cost.

Derived terms

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Translations

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emphatic form of 'what'
regardless of the … that; for any … that
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Pronoun

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whatever

  1. (interrogative)Whatever;emphasised form of 'what', used to ask which thing, event, circumstance, etc.
    Whatever do you mean?
  2. Regardless of anything that.
    Whatever he does, he will still lose the game.
    Whatever happens, stay calm.
  3. (fused relative)Anything that;all that.
    Dowhatever works.
    I’ll dowhatever I can.
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope],An Essay on Man. [], epistle I, London: Printed forJ[ohn] Wilford, [],→OCLC,page16, lines280–281:
      And ſpight of Pride, and in thy Reaſon's ſpight, / One truth is clear; "Whatever Is, isRight."
    • 2013 September-October,Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, inAmerican Scientist[1]:
      The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnifywhatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
  4. (informal)Anything; thing(s) of unspecified kind, or no matter what kind;sometimes used to indicate that the speaker does not care about options.
    I don't need any of this stuff, so takewhatever.
    • 2021, Michael Kurland,Whatever the Cost:
      There's a pile of stuff on that table; clippings, pamphlets, posters,whatever, that needs to be sorted and filed.

Related terms

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Translations

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Translations

Adverb

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whatever (notcomparable)

  1. (with negative)At all; in any way;whatsoever.
    There is no pointwhatever in going on with this discussion.
    • 1874, Dorothy Henrietta Boulger,True to her trust; or, 'Womanly past question', page236:
      He is quite unconscious; and, though your presence is a relief to me, you must remember that there is no hope - no hopewhatever.
    • 1864, Charles Piazzi Smyth,Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, page207:
      So then arose the horrible confusion perpetuated ever since, of perversely different kinds of weights, jostling each other in Britain; Troy weight and Avoirdupois weight and Apothecaries' weight, wherein or whereamongst every one is at sea with regard to testing them, and no onewhatever is satisfied.
    • 1910,Emerson Hough, “The Purchase Price”, inThe Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:
      Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fearwhatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
    • 1941 June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, inRailway Magazine, page263:
      In the third place, the superelevation and alignment of the track, theoretically calculated for speeds of 70 to 75 m.p.h., was adequate for the 80 to 85 m.p.h. or so normally attained as maxima over the G.N. main line; but nothingwhatever had been done to prepare it for the enormous increment over these figures that this run was to produce.
    • 1999, Louis P. Pojman,Life and Death: A Reader in Moral Problems, page112:
      His repetitive toil is his life and reality, and it goes on forever, and it is without any meaningwhatever.
  2. (interrogative) In what way; to what extent.
    Coordinate term:however
    Whatever does it matter now?

See also

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Interjection

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whatever

  1. (colloquial)Aholophrastic expression used to dismiss something that the speaker doesn't care about, doesn't think important, or doesn't want to consider or discuss any further. Sometimes conceived as anellipsis ofwhatever you say, implying feigned deference:whatever you say [apparently must be true].
    Synonyms:whatev,whevs,what the fuck ever,whatever you say;whoopee do;if you say so
    Near-synonyms:meh,so what
    So you don't like Mrs Jones.Whatever. What's that got to do with my question?
    Go brush your teeth. –Whatever!
    • 1991 January,Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, page66:
      "It's not silk, it's muslin." "Whatever."
    • 1998 June 3, “Conjoined Fetus Lady”, inSouth Park, season 2, episode 5:
      Yeah,whatever you old dried up fat hog.

Usage notes

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  • May appear rude or discourteous. Can be used to end an argument without conceding the point, implying that the issue is not worth discussing or indicating a general sense of apathy toward the subject.

Translations

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indicating the speaker does not care what someone says

Adjective

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whatever (comparativemorewhatever,superlativemostwhatever)

  1. (colloquial)Unexceptional orunimportant;blah.
    • 1996, Mathias, “Lake Placid Comments”, inrec.music.phish (Usenet):
      All in all, I guess I shouldn't be complaining, but the rest of the show, imho, was verywhatever-ish.
    • 2007,Avril Lavigne, “Girlfriend”, inThe Best Damn Thing:
      She's like sowhatever / You can do so much better

Noun

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whatever (pluralwhatevers)

  1. (colloquial) Something whose exact kind or nature is unimportant; athingy.
    • 2003, David Soubly,Santa, CEO, page91:
      How would you feel if you're a plant elf, and your daily bonus is tied to the number ofwhatevers you produce, and then this big clumsy thing barges in and knocks your rate back for the whole week?
    • 2011, Carol Ann Lindsay,The Planet of Comet Sense, page55:
      I think it's the HYDRA, the group ofwhatevers that rule the world, those elitists that laugh at us, joke about their environmentalist sheeples doing their bidding while they sip the best wine on the planet, ride around in private jets,[]

Related terms

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See also

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Pronominal adverbs
aboutaboutsacrossafteragainagainstalongamongamongstanent[1]aroundasatbeitbesidebetweenbeyondbyeverforforeforthforwardforwardsfromhenceinaboveinafterinbeforeinbelowinelsewhereinsoeverintoinundermid[2]ofonoutoversosoeversomedeversomever[3]throughthroughouttotoforeuntoupuponwardwardswithwithalwithinwithout
hencehenceafterhenceforthhenceforwardhenceforwardshencefrom
herehereabouthereaboutshereafterhereagainsthereamonghereamongsthereanenthereatherebyhereforhereforehereforthhereforwardherefowardsherefromherehencehereinabovehereinafterhereinbeforehereinbelowhereinelsewherehereinsoeverhereintohereinunderheremidhereofhereonhereouthereoverheresoeverherethroughherethroughoutheretoheretoforehereuntohereuponherewithherewithalherewithin
hitherhithertohitheruntohitherwardhitherwards
howhowbeithoweverhowsohowsoeverhowsomedeverhowsomever
thencethenceafterthenceforththenceforwardthenceforwardsthencefromthenceout
therethereaboutthereaboutsthereacrossthereafterthereagainthereagainsttherealongthereamongthereamongstthereanenttherearoundthereattherebesidetherebetweentherebeyondtherebythereverthereforthereforethereforththerefromtherehencethereinabovethereinafterthereinbeforethereinbelowthereintothereinundertheremidthereofthereonthereoutthereovertheresoevertherethroughtherethroughouttheretotheretoforethereuntothereupthereupontherewiththerewithaltherewithintherewithout
thitherthitherinsoeverthithertothitherwardthitherwards
whatwhateverwhatsowhatsoeverwhatsomedeverwhatsomever
whenwhenaboutwhenaboutswhenaswheneverwhensowhensoeverwhensomever
whencewhenceafterwhenceverwhenceforthwhenceforwardwhencefromwhencewardwhencewards
wherewhereaboutwhereaboutswhereafterwhereagainstwherealongwhereamongwhereamongstwhereanentwherearoundwhereaswhereatwherebesidewherebetweenwherebeyondwherebywhereverwhereforwhereforewhereforthwherefromwherehencewhereinabovewhereinafterwhereinbeforewhereinbelowwhereinsoeverwhereintowhereinunderwheremidwhereofwhereonwhereoutwhereoverwheresowheresoeverwheresomeverwherethroughwherethroughoutwheretowheretoforewhereuntowhereupwhereuponwherewithwherewithalwherewithinwherewithout
whitherwhithereverwhitherinsoeverwhithersowhithertowhithertoforewhitherwardwhitherwards
whywhyeverwhyforwhysowhysoever
  1. ^Scottish
  2. ^fromMiddle Englishmid
  3. ^old dialectal form

References

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  • whatever”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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