in the first place

Idioms  

1. From the beginning, at the outset, before anything else. For example, Why didn't you tell me in the first place that you've decided to leave? or He could have bought a new one in the first place .

2. As the first of several items in order of importance. This phrase is usually accompanied by in the second place, third place , and so on, as in I'm not joining the health club because, in the first place, I don't like their hours, and in the second place, I can't afford the dues . [First half of 1600s] Also see for one .

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Example Sentences

The other is you need competition for artists because that’s the whole reason “Stranger Things” exists in the first place.

From Los Angeles Times

However, the Catholic Church said on Thursday that about 35 students who either escaped or had not been abducted in the first place did not show up for a headcount immediately after the kidnapping.

From Barron's

“The criminal investigation of the chant was never warranted in the first place,” they wrote.

From Salon

Now saving the human race is up to two people who never had much love for it in the first place.

From Los Angeles Times

In other words, there are cumulative, perhaps incalculable psychological effects, of having a 529 account in the first place.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• basically
• chiefly
• first and foremost
• generally
• importantly
• largely
• mostly
• notably
• particularly
• predominantly