whatsoever
Americanpronoun
adjective
pronoun
Etymology
Origin of whatsoever
1200–50; Middle English, equivalent to what so whatever ( Old English swā hwæt swā ) + ever ever
Explanation
The word whatsoever is an old-fashioned way to emphasize a point. If you have no clue whatsoever who ate all the ice cream that was in the freezer, it means you truly have no idea at all who the culprit is. If you say that you have no doubt whatsoever that your cousin could be a model, you are placing emphasis on the fact that you're sure she's tall and thin enough to do the job. Whatsoever, originally quuat-so-euere, was first used in the thirteenth century, and while it's rare these days, it eventually led to the more modern and extremely popular word whatever.
Vocabulary lists containing whatsoever
Alex Trebek (1940–2020) Tribute List
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Sugar
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There is no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done, or what the Rays have done.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
But, with "no history of ovarian cancer in the family whatsoever" so thought her pain was being caused by her coil.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
I practice a discourse-based approach in a course I teach for students at Bucknell University—a course, I might add, with no technology whatsoever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
I did not have any concerns with my involvement whatsoever.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
“But I want to say, if Francis—the vicar, I mean—and I can be any help whatsoever, our door’s always open. Will you tell your mother that?”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
