whyadverb
uk/waɪ/us/waɪ/A1 for what reason:
"I'm going home." "Why?"
Why did you choose to live in London?
Why wait? Let's leave now.
Why should I help him - he never helps me?
Why is it that I find chocolate so addictive?
The police asked me to explain why I hadn't reported the accident sooner.
I don't know why she isn't here.
Quite why he isn't here today is a mystery.
There is no reason why we shouldn't succeed.
More examples
- She cited three reasons why people get into debt.
- I'll never comprehend why she did what she did.
- It's easy to see why he's so popular.
- She marched into my office demanding to know why I hadn't written my report.
- My usual train was cancelled. That's why I'm so late.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: question words & expressions
- come
- devil
- extent
- how about...? idiom
- how, what, why, etc. on earth... idiom
- in God's/heaven's name idiom
- interrogative
- shall
- what the blazes...? idiom
- what's that (all) about (then)? idiom
- what's the score? idiom
- what/where/how/why the devil idiom
- when
- whenever
- where
- which
- whither
- whose
- world
- would you like...? idiom
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Idiom(s)
why don't you...?
why not...?
whyexclamation
uk/waɪ/us/waɪ/mainly US or old-fashionedused to express surprise or anger:
Why, if it isn't old Georgie Frazer!
Why, I've never seen anything like it!
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: interjections
- (well) what do you know! idiom
- aiyo
- alas
- aw shucks
- awesomesauce
- bam
- bless
- boo
- charming
- good show idiom
- goodness
- heck
- hot dog! idiom
- talk
- use your loaf idiom
- voilà
- wake up! idiom
- watch out
- what an idea! idiom
- yes
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whynoun
uk/waɪ/us/waɪ/the whys and (the) wherefores
the reasons for something:
I know very little about the whys and the wherefores of the situation.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Motives and reasons
- cause 1
- drive
- first principles
- ground
- hidden agenda
- impulse
- in the name of sth idiom
- inclination
- justification
- mainspring
- motivation
- motive
- name
- object
- peg
- rationale
- reason
- should
- wherefores