whoever
Americanpronoun
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whomever,
objective
-
whosever
possessive
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whatever person; anyone that.
Whoever did it should be proud. Ask whoever is there. Tell it to whomever you like.
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no matter who.
I won't do it, whoever asks.
-
who? what person? (used to express astonishment, disbelief, disdain, etc.).
Whoever is that? Whoever told you such a thing?
pronoun
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any person who; anyone that
whoever wants it can have it
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no matter who
I'll come round tomorrow, whoever may be here
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an intensive form of who, used in questions
whoever could have thought that?
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informal an unknown or unspecified person
give those to John, or Cathy, or whoever
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whoever
Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at who, ever
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:
Yet Hopper’s drawings would probably have surprised whoever saw them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Scientists knew that whoever succeeded could gain an unprecedented military advantage.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
He slides the check to whoever is still sitting there.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
The position goes to whoever has had the longest run on the council without being president.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Every time the camera came near me, the red-haired lady who seemed like she was in charge would shout out “No release!” and then whoever had the camera would zoom toward a different kid.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
I tried to slip them into conversation, as if to remind whomever I was talking to perhaps I too could be beloved for my size.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 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
Root for whomever you want to win, for more or less any reason that moves you.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Thune said Trump had the right to endorse whomever he wanted, but acknowledged that the president's interventions could make moving legislation "slightly more complicated."
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
In the OASIS, you could become whomever and whatever you wanted to be, without ever revealing your true identity, because your anonymity was guaranteed.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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
Nom. whoever, whosoever, Pos. whosever, whosesoever, Obj. whomever. whomsoever.
From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Brainerd Kellogg
There were the remains of the camp-fire; and it was evident, from several indications, that the wagon, whosever it was, had stood at least two days at this spot.
From Tales of South Africa by H.A. Bryden
And she is not wholesome, whosever word it was.
From The Claverings by Anthony Trollope
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
