why

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciationshwaɪ/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/hwaɪ, waɪ/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(hwī, wī)

Inflections of 'why' (n): npl: whys

why
WordReference English Thesaurus © 2026
Sense: Adverb: for what reason
Synonyms:
for what reason, how come, to what end, for what purpose, to what purpose, wherefore (literary, archaic), why ever, whyever, why on earth, why the hell (potentially offensive, slang), why the fuck (vulgar, offensive, slang)
Sense: Conjunction: the reason why
Synonyms:
the reason, the reason that, the reason why, the reason for, wherefore (literary archaic)
Sense: Noun: reason - plural, often preceded by 'the'
Synonyms:
the wherefores, the why and wherefore, the reason why, reason Collocations, pretext, explanation Collocations, motive Collocations

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