whereas
Americanconjunction
-
while on the contrary.
One arrived promptly, whereas the others hung back.
-
it being the case that, or considering that (used especially in formal preambles).
noun
-
whereases
plural
conjunction
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whereas
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wheras; equivalent to where + as 1
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.
See Examples For:
I came of age professionally when people still primarily gathered in person or spoke by phone, all in real time, whereas Caroline grew up often staying in touch with people through the internet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Underlying much of this concern was implicit or explicit acceptance of the Malthusian idea that whereas population has the potential to grow exponentially, it is kept constantly under check by its capacity to feed itself.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
AGI matches or exceeds human abilities across a specific cognitive task, according to the bank, whereas superintelligence would surpass human performance across every intellectual domain.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
He adds that the central point of conflict is Charles “wishes it was a few hundred years ago,” whereas Liz tries to be with the times, progressive and welcomes change.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
A frivolous, meaningless declaration filled with whereases and therefores to pretend our boys in blue were winners?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2020
Chairman Pittman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee drafted an eloquent joint resolution with many whereases describing the brutality of the Spanish conflict, the danger of its dragging the U. S. into war. etc., etc.
From Time Magazine Archive
After four resonant whereases, the resolution reached the two sore spots.
From Time Magazine Archive
That was all, absolutely all, except that occasionally they sent him out to do an errand, or let him copy a wordy contract with a great many whereases and wherefores.
From The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White
I thought it all out by myself; but I wanted the whereases put in right.
From Odd Numbers Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe by Sewell Ford
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
