under the circumstances

Idioms  

1. Also, in the circumstances. Given these conditions, such being the case, as in Under the circumstances we can't leave Mary out. This idiom uses circumstance in the sense of “a particular situation,” a usage dating from the late 1300s. It may also be modified in various ways, such as under any circumstances meaning “no matter what the situation,” as in We'll phone her under any circumstances; under no circumstances, meaning “in no case, never,” as in Under no circumstances may you smoke; under any other circumstances, meaning “in a different situation,” as in I can't work under any other circumstances; and under the same circumstances, meaning “given the same situation,” as in Under the same circumstances anyone would have done the same.

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Example Sentences

“Corporal Jarvis’ deployment of the less-lethal bean bag shotgun at that distance was in accordance with his training and reasonable under the circumstances,” the report states.

From Los Angeles Times

“That any of the company could have performed these things, under the circumstances … would require a greater stretch of credulity on my part, than it would to believe it was the work of the spirits.”

From Literature

Then earlier this month he backtracked and said it was the best deal the British government could make under the circumstances.

From The Wall Street Journal

Jonah wiped his face on his sleeve—okay, not good manners, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances—and left the bathroom.

From Literature

“I know it’s fast. But under the circumstances, I can’t think of another option.”

From Literature

Related Words

• appropriately
• correspondingly
• properly
• proportionately
• respectively
• subsequently
• therefore
• thus