whereas

[ wair-az, hwair- ]
See synonyms for whereas on Thesaurus.com
conjunction
  1. while on the contrary: One arrived promptly, whereas the others hung back.

  2. it being the case that, or considering that (used especially in formal preambles).

noun,plural where·as·es.
  1. a qualifying or introductory statement, especially one having “whereas” as the first word: to read the whereases in the will.

Origin of whereas

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wheras; equivalent to where + as1

Words Nearby whereas

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use whereas in a sentence

  • whereas Lessard had acted the martinet with MacRae, he took another tack and became the very essence of affability toward me.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • Such an act would be of a piece with Nigel's character, whereas a liaison—and yet Nigel was no saint.

    Bella Donna | Robert Hichens
  • One black key is made to serve, for instance, for D sharp and for E flat, whereas the two notes are in reality not identical.

  • It 67 was that the piece which reads smoothly seldom acts well; whereas a play that gets over the footlights usually reads poorly.

  • Moreover, Rita liked him, whereas she had never sincerely liked and trusted Sir Lucien.

    Dope | Sax Rohmer

British Dictionary definitions for whereas

whereas

/ (wɛərˈæz) /


conjunction
  1. (coordinating) but on the other hand: I like to go swimming whereas Sheila likes to sail

sentence connector
  1. (in formal documents to begin sentences) it being the case that; since

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