whoever
Americanpronoun
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whomever,
objective
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whosever
possessive
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whatever person; anyone that.
Whoever did it should be proud. Ask whoever is there. Tell it to whomever you like.
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no matter who.
I won't do it, whoever asks.
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who? what person? (used to express astonishment, disbelief, disdain, etc.).
Whoever is that? Whoever told you such a thing?
pronoun
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any person who; anyone that
whoever wants it can have it
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no matter who
I'll come round tomorrow, whoever may be here
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an intensive form of who, used in questions
whoever could have thought that?
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informal an unknown or unspecified person
give those to John, or Cathy, or whoever
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whoever
Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at who, ever
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.
See Examples For:
The Pozos de Gamboa killings drew the attention of leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum's government, which promised to arrest whoever was behind them.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
The winner of a platform war is whoever captures the contribution loop—the self-reinforcing cycle in which researchers, toolmakers and downstream builders improve a platform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Similar to the SGLI, whoever is listed as the beneficiary will receive this money after.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Aipa Surf, the board company founded by Kolby’s grandfather, shared a statement following his death saying that the young surfer had “a way with touching the lives of whoever he met.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Tell that to whoever took the money,” said Mr. Fun.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
“It is perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
His attitude is essentially that the EU must take the outstretched hand of whomever the UK puts on the dancefloor to represent them.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Root for whomever you want to win, for more or less any reason that moves you.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Thune said Trump had the right to endorse whomever he wanted, but acknowledged that the president's interventions could make moving legislation "slightly more complicated."
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Yes, my dear listeners, Courtney is nice to whomever she comes in contact with or whomever she’s talking to.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
Clothes that show whosever wearing them in their best light, to show off their beauty but in a way that never degrades them in any way,” Griffiths said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
Shepherd, wherever, and whosever, drop an e; and wherefore and therefore assume one.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
I thank that voice whosever it may have been, Mingo, and will say it was as true a voice as the rest were lying voices.
From The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
And she is not wholesome, whosever word it was.
From The Claverings by Anthony Trollope
God bless them, whosever those voices might be!
From Latitude 19 degree A Romance of the West Indies in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty by Mrs. Schuyler Crowninshield
Definitions 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.
