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why

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definition | English Collocations | Conjugator | in Spanish | in French | in context | images

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 , pretext, explanation , motive

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Recent forum discussions about thesaurus entries:

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