whatever
What ever; emphatic form of 'what'.
Determiner 4 meanings
What ever; emphatic form of 'what'.
“Good heavens! Whatever time is it?!”
Regardless of the ... that; for any ... that.
“Whatever your choice, there will be consequences.”
Any ... that; of no matter what type or kind that.
“Whatever doubts I had were quickly dispelled.”
Any; of no matter what type or kind.
“He must be stopped, whatever the cost.”
Pronoun 4 meanings
What ever; emphasised form of 'what', used to ask which thing, event, circumstance, etc.
“Whatever do you mean?”
Regardless of anything that.
“Whatever he does, he will still lose the game.”
Anything that; all that.
“Do whatever works.”
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.”
Adverb 2 meanings
At all; in any way; whatsoever.
“There is no point whatever in going on with this discussion.”
In what way; to what extent.
“Whatever does it matter now?”
Interjection 1 meaning
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].
“Near-synonyms: meh, so what”
Adjective 1 meaning
Unexceptional or unimportant; blah.
Noun 1 meaning
Something whose exact kind or nature is unimportant; a thingy.
Etymology
From Middle English whatever. By surface analysis, what + -ever.
Similar and opposite words
WHATEVER at a glance
WHATEVER has 8 letters and scores 17 points in Scrabble (W 4 + H 4 + A 1 + T 1 + E 1 + V 4 + E 1 + R 1) and 17 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #725 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with whatever
All rhymesKeep going
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