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• what-if
  what-if

  adjective

  hypothetical.
• 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.

what-if

American  

[hwuht-if, hwot‑, wuht‑, wot‑] / ˈʰwʌtˈɪf, ˈʰwɒt‑, ˈwʌt‑, ˈwɒt‑ /

adjective

1. hypothetical.

   a what-if scenario.

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noun

1. a hypothetical case or situation; conjecture.

   a series of what-ifs.

what-if British  

noun

1. informal a hypothetical question; speculation

   one of the great what-ifs of modern history

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what if Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of what-if

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Stacy Schlachter, senior vice president of sales at Penske Logistics, said customers increasingly ask the third-party logistics provider to help them plan for what-if scenarios.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026

In her new research-based what-if book “Nuclear War: A Scenario,” Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen reveals how a nuclear holocaust would play out in real time.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2024

A Hollywood strike actually made it possible to do both, but Selleck is at peace, writing “my only regret was that the what-if was there from time to time.”

From Seattle Times • May 9, 2024

The furred and the hoofed, the feathered and the chaotically tentacled roam, slither and sometimes howl in “The Animal Kingdom,” an amusing what-if French fantasy with a touch of comedy and some glints of horror.

From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2024

And the pushed-down-out-of.sight, what-if, hope-waiting portion of Christopher’s heart rose up in his chest, and he felt it beating double time under his skin.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell