whoever

[hoo-ev-er]

pronoun

possessive

whosever ,

objective

whomever .

1. whatever person; anyone that.

   Whoever did it should be proud. Ask whoever is there. Tell it to whomever you like.

2. no matter who.

   I won't do it, whoever asks.

3. who? what person? (used to express astonishment, disbelief, disdain, etc.).

   Whoever is that? Whoever told you such a thing?

whoever

/ huːˈɛvə /

pronoun

1. any person who; anyone that

   whoever wants it can have it

2. no matter who

   I'll come round tomorrow, whoever may be here

3. an intensive form of who, used in questions

   whoever could have thought that?

4. informal,  an unknown or unspecified person

   give those to John, or Cathy, or whoever

Word History and Origins

Origin of whoever¹

Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; who, ever

Example Sentences

There is nothing that stops him from siccing his attack dog on that contractor, or on the editor of a small newspaper in Iowa, or whoever it is that he decides is an enemy.

Read more on Slate

Whoever is to beat them knows they must put out pretty much the perfect performance under the highest pressure, and even then they might still be relying on Australia to make a few mistakes of their own.

Read more on BBC

Whoever was training, the other one would be kicking a ball around on the side watching.

Read more on BBC

Whoever is right, deterrence isn’t dead and the sky hasn’t fallen.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Advanced economies either build the infrastructure to support modern industry or they cede technological leadership to whoever did.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• someone