how come?

Idioms  

1. How is it that, as in How come you're not attending the conference? Sometimes how come follows a statement and asks the question “why” or “in what way,” as in You're not going? How come? The related phrase how so? functions the same way, as in You say she's changed her mind—how so? How come is short for how did it come about that and dates from the mid-1800s; how so, short for how is it so or how is it that, dates from about 1300.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

how come?

“How does this happen, and how come we didn’t hear about it sooner?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

“We’re filing returns and people are saying how come my Social Security payments are getting taxed?”

From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026

So if “we’re just going to say that historically it needs to look like it always looked, how come those features fall out?”

From Slate ● Mar. 23, 2026

“I’d be willing to have this arm cut off if I could understand how come the quantum? If I could understand how existence comes about,” Wheeler once said in a past interview.

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025

“And how come they took their hoods off?”

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool