Jump to:

• 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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of what-if

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

"It's always been what-if, and now the what-if has come true. It still hasn't sunk in that I'll be there on 17 May playing."

From BBC • May 16, 2026

He takes a wisp of an idea, a what-if, and turns it into a viable aesthetic.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2025

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

It was a what-if game for Liverpool, who hit the post through Mane and were 1.12cm from scoring when John Stones cleared off the line.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2024

“I had to answer that what-if question with Hudson. Just like we answered our own.”

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera