status quo

[ kwoh ]

noun

1. the existing state or condition.

status quo

/ kwəʊ /

noun

1. the status quo
   the status quo the existing state of affairs

status quo

1. The existing order of things; present customs, practices, and power relations: “People with money are often content with the status quo.” From Latin , meaning “the state in which.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of status quo¹

First recorded in 1825–35, status quo is from Latin status quō literally, “state in which”

Word History and Origins

Origin of status quo¹

literally: the state in which

Idioms and Phrases

The existing condition or state of affairs, as in We don't want to admit more singers to the chorus; we like the status quo . This term, Latin for “state in which,” has been used in English since the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

It will soon prove too expensive to maintain the status quo.

From ProPublica

Many of the people that seemed to have been drawn to it, at least in my world, for whatever reason couldn’t fit into the status quo.

From Fortune

Ronald Reagan, the original Republican disrupter of the political status quo, was good at talking to these voters.

From FiveThirtyEight

In the 1980s, companies and investors around the world mobilized to deny apartheid South Africa the economic lifeline it needed to maintain its status quo of racial oppression.

From Fortune

If the status quo prevails, San Diego Community Power will use the grid infrastructure of SDG&E, whose corporate owner, Sempra Energy, is committed to international investments in liquid natural gas.

From Voice of San Diego

When the problem is already political, when the intolerable situation is the status quo?

From The Daily Beast

Defenders of the status quo claim the old rules protect consumers.

From The Daily Beast

Nothing,” Klein notes, “was more threatening to the education status quo in New York City than our charter school initiative.

From The Daily Beast

This is why “originalism” is so beloved of cultural conservatives: All it really means is “keep the status quo.”

From The Daily Beast

This sick status quo is a result of the rigged system of redistricting.

From The Daily Beast

Could we be unfederated to-morrow, the status quo ante would be restored the day after, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

From Project Gutenberg

In these circumstances the British representatives were lucky to secure peace on the basis of the status quo ante.

From Project Gutenberg

The sphinx is mobility itself compared with Mrs. Wilson's intense preservation of her status quo.

From Project Gutenberg

It might have been unsafe to indulge in speculation, based on the then status quo, as to when the inevitable was going to happen.

From Project Gutenberg

Rather, if anything, it pointed to a gradual resumption of his status quo of a few days ago.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• state of affairs
• status