perhaps

American  

[per-haps] / pərˈhæps /

adverb

1. maybe; possibly.

   Perhaps the package will arrive today.

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perhaps British  

/ pəˈhæps, præps /

adverb

1. 1. possibly; maybe

   2. ( as sentence modifier )

      he'll arrive tomorrow, perhaps

      perhaps you'll see him tomorrow

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1. it may happen, be so, etc; maybe

Etymology

Origin of perhaps

First recorded in 1520–30; earlier perhappes, perhapis “by haps”; equivalent to per + hap ¹ + -s ¹

Compare meaning

How does perhaps compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• perhaps vs. maybe

Example Sentences

"The story that I'm telling stood out amongst a sea of stories that are perhaps not by working class writers," she says.

From BBC

Losing to Scotland and Ireland is perhaps not a shock, but the manner of those defeats puts pressure on Borthwick.

From BBC

Pop-psychology dispatches with ominous titles like “Gen Zers who romanticize yearning will likely learn these 5 things the hard way” suggest that there is perhaps too much yearning going on.

From Salon

Future therapies could perhaps act only on the skin, without interfering with the mechanisms that tell us when to stop scratching, Gualdani said.

From The Wall Street Journal

On the eve of a corruption investigation, he dematerialized from a New York street in 1930, perhaps carrying thousands of dollars from checks he’d just had cashed.

From Los Angeles Times