whatsoever

American  

[hwuht-soh-ev-er, hwot-, wuht-, wot-] / ˌʰwʌt soʊˈɛv ər, ˌʰwɒt-, ˌwʌt-, ˌwɒt- /

pronoun

1. (an intensive form ofwhatever ).

   whatsoever it be; in any place whatsoever.

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whatsoever British  

/ ˌwɒtsəʊˈɛvə /

adjective

1. (postpositive) at all: used as an intensifier with indefinite pronouns and determiners such as none, any, no one, anybody , etc

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pronoun

1. an archaic word for whatever

Etymology

Origin of whatsoever

1200–50; Middle English, equivalent to what so whatever ( Old English swā hwæt swā ) + ever ever

Explanation

The word whatsoever is an old-fashioned way to emphasize a point. If you have no clue whatsoever who ate all the ice cream that was in the freezer, it means you truly have no idea at all who the culprit is. If you say that you have no doubt whatsoever that your cousin could be a model, you are placing emphasis on the fact that you're sure she's tall and thin enough to do the job. Whatsoever, originally quuat-so-euere, was first used in the thirteenth century, and while it's rare these days, it eventually led to the more modern and extremely popular word whatever.

Example Sentences

Boasberg would later rule that prosecutors had “offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the president.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

"I certainly wouldn't support any kind of political violence whatsoever, it's not the answer," she said.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

The problem isn’t usability itself; it’s what it has become—a design approach that replaced any need whatsoever to understand complex systems with the ability to thoughtlessly interact with them.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

“I’m cracking up,” says Small over Zoom from her Cooperstown, N.Y., home, “because I had no idea whatsoever that that movie was coming out until my dear sister informed me via you.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Yeah, now the frantic search to find my mother makes no sense whatsoever.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller