whereabouts
Americanadverb
conjunction
noun
adverb
-
Also: whereabout. at what approximate location or place; where
whereabouts are you?
-
obsolete about or concerning which
noun
Etymology
Origin of whereabouts
1400–50; late Middle English wheraboutes, equivalent to Middle English wheraboute ( see whereabout) + -s -s 1
Explanation
Your whereabouts are the place you are right now. When your dog gets lost, your family might form a search party to discover his whereabouts. Officially, the noun whereabouts can be treated as singular or plural, but it's more common to use it as plural. News stories about escaped prisoners or criminals on the run often mention that their whereabouts are unknown, and parents who like to keep tabs on a teenager's whereabouts sometimes buy her a cell phone. The earliest use of whereabouts, one sometimes used today, was as an interrogative adverb: "Whereabouts will you be this afternoon?"
Vocabulary lists containing whereabouts
Dear Martin
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"Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner
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Charlotte's Web
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier in the day, her family said they had had "no contact or news of her whereabouts".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
I remember not knowing the whereabouts of my father, who worked in Manhattan, and thinking he might be dead.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
His colleagues contacted the professor, who said he had no information of Min Zin’s whereabouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Though the family renewed its inquiries on Mahmoud’s whereabouts, the answers have not been encouraging: Both the Israeli Prison Service and the Israeli military denied he was in their custody.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
It is discovered that she left strict orders at Carville that her whereabouts be kept secret.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
