what with

Idioms  

1. Taking into consideration, because of, as in What with all you have to carry, we should take a taxi. This usage replaced the earlier what for. [c. 1600]

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Example Sentences

To be sure, 2025 was hardly smooth sailing on Wall Street or Main, what with “Liberation Day” tariffs, a near-bear market, persistent inflation, and threats to the independence of the Federal Reserve.

From Barron's

The holidays represent an especially anxiety-ridden time for introverted employees—what with office parties, potlucks and other gatherings.

From The Wall Street Journal

Health brings mourning, too, what with the sure signs of loss—my slightly blurred eyesight from posterior vitreous detachment that ophthalmologists say is permanent, the slowly increasing volume on my tinnitus that the audiologist says is permanent, the growing forgetfulness that everyone says is most certainly permanent.

From The Wall Street Journal

“What with the moon curse, and ‘the hunt is on,’ and Ahwoo-Ahwoo, and all the rest.

From Literature

What with all her responsibilities as governess, not to mention the endless parade of mysterious events that seemed to crop up willy-nilly at Ashton Place, she had not written to her friend nearly as often as she should.

From Literature