what-if
[ hwuht-if, hwot‐, wuht‐, wot‐ ]
/ ˈʰwʌtˈɪf, ˈʰwɒt‐, ˈwʌt‐, ˈwɒt‐ /
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adjective
hypothetical: a what-if scenario.
noun
a hypothetical case or situation; conjecture: a series of what-ifs.
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Origin of what-if
First recorded in 1980–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use what-if in a sentence
That is, when things are going well, no one feels compelled to spend money on a what-if project.
What to Do With the Thousands Displaced by Hurricane Sandy?|Malcolm Jones|November 8, 2012|DAILY BEASTTake concrete steps aimed at addressing the problem that looms, rather than ruminating abstractly about what-if scenarios.
British Dictionary definitions for what-if
what-if
noun
informal a hypothetical question; speculationone of the great what-ifs of modern history
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with what-if
what if
Suppose that, as in What if the speaker doesn't get here in time? This expression is in effect a shortening of “what would happen if.” It was first recorded about 1420.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.