anywhere

American  

[en-ee-hwair, -wair] / ˈɛn iˌʰwɛər, -ˌwɛər /

adverb

1. in, at, or to any place.

2. to any extent; to some degree.

   Does my answer come anywhere near the right one?

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noun

1. any place or direction.

   They knew the attack could come from anywhere.

idioms

1. get anywhere, to achieve success.

   You'll never get anywhere with that attitude!

anywhere British  

/ ˈɛnɪˌwɛə /

adverb

1. in, at, or to any place

2. to be successful

   it took three years before he got anywhere

3. any quantity, time, degree, etc, above a specified limit

   he could be anywhere from 40 to 50 years old

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Spelling

See anyplace.

Etymology

Origin of anywhere

1350–1400; Middle English anywher ( e ), aniquar. See any, where

Explanation

The adverb anywhere means "in any location," or "wherever." If you're allowed to pitch your tent anywhere in the campground, it means you can choose any spot you like. When you say, "I can't find the cat anywhere!" it means you've looked every single place you can think of, and you still haven't located your pet. If you win the lottery, you may be overwhelmed by the idea that you can afford to travel anywhere — you can visit any country in the world. English speakers started saying anywhere in the 14th century; earlier, they said owhere or oughwhere.

Example Sentences

Bernardo Pachas said Tuesday that "it could take anywhere from two weeks to the end of the month" to know whether conservative Keiko Fujimori or leftist Roberto Sanchez had won.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

But these templates don’t come anywhere close to the real thing, so Kakaiya decided to make an anatomically precise, patented 3D-printed model.

From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026

That could result in an enterprise value anywhere between $0 and $611 billion.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026

"I doubt any police department anywhere is gonna put any more energy into him after what he did to his previous department, which is let them hang low."

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

“That person didn’t leave his or her or their name, and they could have been calling from anywhere; they could have been calling from Los Angeles.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse