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?

“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 wondered, how come this is not a huge movie?

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2025

“The harassment happens to each of us, how come men don’t know about it? Maybe the male actors compartmentalise, maybe they choose not to see it,” Sarathkumar told the BBC.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2024

“Then how come he doesn’t just shut the place down? I mean, he’s the captain, he can do anything he wants on his ship, right?”

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman