whatever - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English whatever. By surface analysis, what +‎ ever.

The /t/ in whatever may be flapped in certain dialects, despite the fact that it precedes a stressed vowel, due to the morpheme boundary between what and ever.

whatever (plural whatevers)

  1. (slang) A thing or person whose actual name is unknown or forgotten.
    • 1965 January 2, Sidney Ellis (story), Robert C. Dennis (teleplay), “The Brain of Colonel Barham”, in The Outer Limits, season 2, episode 15, spoken by Jennifer Barham (Elizabeth Perry), speaking of her husband, whose brain is being kept alive in a vat, production code 46:
      As far as I'm concerned Alec is dead. Whatever they've got in there, that...whatever.

whatever

  1. (interrogative) What ever; emphatic form of 'what'.
    Good heavens! Whatever time is it?!
  2. Regardless of the ... that; for any ... that.
    Whatever your choice, 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 down whatever thoughts come into your mind.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 28:
      So may whatever tempest mars
      ⁠Mid-ocean, spare thee, sacred bark;
      ⁠And balmy drops in summer dark
      Slide from the bosom of the stars.
    • 1965 January 2, Sidney Ellis (story), Robert C. Dennis (teleplay), “The Brain of Colonel Barham”, in The Outer Limits, season 2, episode 15, spoken by Jennifer Barham (Elizabeth Perry), speaking of her husband, whose brain is being kept alive in a vat, production code 46:
      As far as I'm concerned Alec is dead. Whatever they've got in there, that...whatever.
    • 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?:, page 115:
      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, and whatever 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.

emphatic form of 'what'

regardless of the … that; for any … that

Translations to be checked

whatever

  1. (interrogative) What ever; 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.
    Do whatever works.
    I’ll do whatever I can.
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 16, lines 280–281:
      And ſpight of Pride, and in thy Reaſon's ſpight, / One truth is clear; "Whatever Is, is Right."
    • 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist‎[1]:
      The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever 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 take whatever.
    • 1965 January 2, “The Brain of Colonel Barham”, in The Outer Limits, season 2, episode 15:
      "As far as I'm concerned, Alec is dead. Whatever they've got in there, that — whatever —."
    • 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.

Translations

whatever (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly in the negative) At all; in any way; whatsoever.
    There is no point whatever in going on with this discussion.
    • 1874, Dorothy Henrietta Boulger, True to her trust; or, 'Womanly past question', page 236:
      He is quite unconscious; and, though your presence is a relief to me, you must remember that there is no hope - no hope whatever.
    • 1864, Charles Piazzi Smyth, Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, page 207:
      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 one whatever is satisfied.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, “The Purchase Price”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever 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”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:
      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 nothing whatever 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, page 112:
      His repetitive toil is his life and reality, and it goes on forever, and it is without any meaning whatever.
  2. (interrogative) In what way; to what extent.
    Coordinate term: however
    Whatever does it matter now?

whatever

  1. (colloquial) A holophrastic 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 an ellipsis of whatever 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 broke it? Whatever! Get a grip.
    Go brush your teeth. – Whatever!
    • 1983 December 19, “The Looks of Love”, in Newhart, season 2, episode 9:
      "... between you and Irene." "Iris." "Whatever."
    • 1983 December 19, “The Looks of Love”, in Newhart, season 2, episode 9:
      "... now it's Violet." "Iris." "Whatever."
    • 1991 January, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, page 66:
      "It's not silk, it's muslin." "Whatever."

indicating the speaker does not care what someone says — see also what do I know

whatever (comparative more whatever, superlative most whatever)

  1. (colloquial) Unexceptional or unimportant; blah.
    • 1996, Mathias, “Lake Placid Comments”, in rec.music.phish (Usenet):
      All in all, I guess I shouldn't be complaining, but the rest of the show, imho, was very whatever-ish.

whatever (plural whatevers)

  1. (colloquial) Something whose exact kind or nature is unimportant; a thingy.
    • 2003, David Soubly, Santa, CEO, page 91:
      How would you feel if you're a plant elf, and your daily bonus is tied to the number of whatevers 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, page 55:
      I think it's the HYDRA, the group of whatevers 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, […]

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