whereas

American  

[hwair-, wair-az] / ʰwɛər-, wɛərˈæz /

conjunction

1. while on the contrary.

   One arrived promptly, whereas the others hung back.

2. it being the case that, or considering that (used especially in formal preambles).

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noun

plural

whereases

1. a qualifying or introductory statement, especially one having “whereas” as the first word.

   to read the whereases in the will.

whereas British  

/ wɛərˈæz /

conjunction

1. (coordinating) but on the other hand

   I like to go swimming whereas Sheila likes to sail

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1. (in formal documents to begin sentences) it being the case that; since

Etymology

Origin of whereas

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wheras; equivalent to where + as ¹

Example Sentences

Whereas, if “Powell, who was clearly seen as the most independent person on the board, is no longer there…then you could expect a little bit of a modest dollar sell off,” she added.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

Whereas AI workloads once required one CPU for every eight graphics processing units, that ratio could completely flip to eight CPUs for every GPU, he explained.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

"Whereas what we can do is use that land not only to supply thousands of additional affordable homes, we can use it to increase access to these spaces."

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Whereas, Iranian oil traded at a wide discount to the global Brent benchmark before the war, in recent weeks, some cargoes have fetched a rare premium.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Whereas in the days past, Branwell had seemed to accept the fact that he could not speak, now he didn’t.

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg