Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- A. indef. rel. Anything which; no matter what; all that.
- B. interrog. What? as, whatever shall I do?
- Of what kind or sort it may be; no matter what; any or all that: applied to persons and things: as, whatever person is appointed must be satisfactory to the court.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- pronoun Anything soever which; the thing or things of any kind; being this or that; of one nature or another; one thing or another; anything that may be; all that; the whole that; all particulars that; -- used both substantively and adjectively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective colloquial
Unexceptional orunimportant ;blah . - determiner No matter which; for any
- determiner relative Anything that.
- interjection colloquial, dismissive A
holophrastic expression used discourteously to indicate that the speaker does not consider the matter worthy of further discussion. - pronoun
Anything ; used to indicate that the speaker does not care about options.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective one or some or every or all without specification
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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GB & I love to be around them and always say, yes yes yes bring the baby, the kid, whatever, when we go to dinner or when you come over or whatever
mother to a sister of a thought .... theshivers 2001
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They mean renouncing whatever is opposed to the reliance others have in us, whatever would cause misery to those whom the course of our lives has made dependent on us.
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- (id) initWithWhatever: (id) whatever if ((self = [self init])) _whatever = [whatever retain]; return self;
ranchero.com 2009
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"in _any way_ or to _any extent_ whatever to the subject of slavery," shall be laid on the table, and "no further action _whatever_ shall be had thereon."
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society
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"in _any way_ or to _any extent_ whatever to the subject of slavery," shall be laid on the table, and "no further action _whatever_ shall be had thereon."
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society
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Of course, this triggered waves of doubt about my relationship with my partner until I woke up and reminded myself that these people are idiots and people generally fall asleep in whatever is the most comforable position.
more idiotic advice to fuel your relationship insecurities « Womanvsfeminist’s Blog 2009
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There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Latest Mohammed Cartoon Controversy, this Time in South Africa 2010
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Of course, this triggered waves of doubt about my relationship with my partner until I woke up and reminded myself that these people are idiots and people generally fall asleep in whatever is the most comforable position.
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And that, because I love Earth, I can be content to feel myself returning to her in whatever is Her form.
Human Sunrise Alice Walker Blog Administrator 2008
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And that, because I love Earth, I can be content to feel myself returning to her in whatever is Her form.
Archive 2008-10-01 Alice Walker Blog Administrator 2008
Prolagus commented on the word whatever
Isn't this great?!
April 21, 2008
leologism commented on the word whatever
Good one.
August 10, 2008