whoever

American  

[hoo-ev-er] / huˈɛv ər /

pronoun

• whomever,
  objective
• whosever
  possessive

1. whatever person; anyone that.

   Whoever did it should be proud. Ask whoever is there. Tell it to whomever you like.

2. no matter who.

   I won't do it, whoever asks.

3. who? what person? (used to express astonishment, disbelief, disdain, etc.).

   Whoever is that? Whoever told you such a thing?

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whoever British  

/ huːˈɛvə /

pronoun

1. any person who; anyone that

   whoever wants it can have it

2. no matter who

   I'll come round tomorrow, whoever may be here

3. an intensive form of who, used in questions

   whoever could have thought that?

4. informal an unknown or unspecified person

   give those to John, or Cathy, or whoever

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• whosever
  possessive

Etymology

Origin of whoever

Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at who, ever

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whoever whomever whosever

“That rate risk was real and actually, whoever played that game won, because rates did stay flat,” said Alan Kufeld, a partner at advisory firm PKF O’Connor Davies in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

“After that, the next game will be the most exciting. I’m just ready to go, whoever we play, it doesn’t really matter.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Repairing this relationship will have to be a key priority for whoever is next in the driving seat.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

But basically what he did in a lot of cases was, he would be filing civil actions against the klan or the skinheads or whoever it was and getting a lot of discovery.

From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026

He thought Josie would huddle close and whisper conspiratorially about all their plans going forward—all the ways they’d outsmart Ivy and whoever else they were competing against.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“It is perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

His attitude is essentially that the EU must take the outstretched hand of whomever the UK puts on the dancefloor to represent them.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Hypocrisy allows parents, or the DoD, or whomever, to target the book itself.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026

They must obey laws, but beyond that, social media companies can filter content as they like, and anything objectionable is the responsibility of whomever posted it.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

As the cemetery was emptying, I waited until Nazario and Vera had embraced the Jesuit and whomever else they were continuing to fool.

From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez

Clothes that show whosever wearing them in their best light, to show off their beauty but in a way that never degrades them in any way,” Griffiths said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023

The causes for such conduct are so common that very few men escape from their influence, and whosever does not resist them, falls and becomes a victim.

From A Plea for the Criminal Being a reply to Dr. Chapple's work: 'The Fertility of the Unfit', and an Attempt to explain the leading principles of Criminological and Reformatory Science by James Leslie Allan Kayll

Nom. whoever, whosoever, Pos. whosever, whosesoever, Obj. whomever. whomsoever.

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Brainerd Kellogg

That will all happen as predicted, and my mother can recite that lovely poem of Freiligrath's or Anastasius Grun's, or whosever it is 'Love as long as thou canst, love as long as thou mayst.

From A Young Girl's Diary by Eden Paul

That blunder, whosever fault it was, not only lost the Soudan to Egypt, but caused the death of many of our brave soldiers, to say nothing of Gordon himself.

From General Gordon A Christian Hero by Seton Churchill

Related Words

• someone