different between whatever vs forever

English

Etymology

what +? -ever

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??t??v?/, /w?t??v?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /w?t??v?/, /w????v?/
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)

Unusually, the /t/ in whatever may be flapped in certain dialects, despite preceding a stressed syllable.

Determiner

whatever

1. no matter what; for any

2. (relative) Anything that.

Derived terms

• whateverism
• whateverness
• whatsoever

Related terms

• whatever creams your twinkie
• whatever floats your boat
• whatever it takes

Translations

Pronoun

whatever

1. No matter what; for any

2. (relative) Anything; sometimes used to indicate that the speaker does not care about options.

Translations

Interjection

whatever

2. (colloquial, dismissive) A holophrastic expression used discourteously to indicate that the speaker does not consider the matter worthy of further discussion.

Usage notes

• Tone of voice is particularly important here in playing up or playing down the dismissive quality of the word.

Synonyms

• so what
• whoopee do
• meh
• whatev

Translations

Adjective

whatever (comparative more whatever, superlative most whatever)

1. (colloquial) Unexceptional or unimportant; blah.
2. (dated, postpositive) At all, absolutely, whatsoever.
   • 1864, Charles Piazzi Smyth, Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (page 207)

     So then arose the horrible confusion perpetuated ever since, of perversely different kinds of weights, jostling each other in Britain; Troy weight and Avoirdupois weight and Apothecaries' weight, wherein or whereamongst every one is at sea with regard to testing them, and no one whatever is satisfied.

Noun

whatever (plural whatevers)

1. (colloquial) Something whose exact kind or nature is unimportant; a thingy.
   • 2003, David Soubly, Santa, CEO (page 91)

     How would you feel if you're a plant elf, and your daily bonus is tied to the number of whatevers you produce, and then this big clumsy thing barges in and knocks your rate back for the whole week?

Related terms

References

• whatever at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• everwhat

English

Alternative forms

• for ever

Etymology

From Middle English for ever, for evere, equivalent to for +? ever.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f????v?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /f????v?/, [f????v?], [f???v?], [f????v?]
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)

Adverb

forever (not comparable)

1. (duration) For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time.

   I shall love you forever.
2. (duration, colloquial, hyperbolic) For a very long time, a seeming eternity.
   • 1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, Chapter 1

     She and Serena had been friends forever. Or nearly forever: forty-two years, beginning with Miss Kimmel's first grade.

   We had to wait forever to get inside.

3. (frequency) Constantly or frequently.

   You are forever nagging me.

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.

Usage notes

• In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever may be used instead of forever for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only forever is used, regardless of sense.

Synonyms

• always
• continually
• eternally
• evermore
• for good
• forevermore
• for ever more
• forever and a day
• incessantly
• until Kingdom come
• permanently

Derived terms

• foreverness
• foreverhood
• forever home

Related terms

• everlasting
• every
• everyday
• never
• nevermore
• whatever
• whenever
• whoever

Translations

Noun

forever (plural forevers)

1. An extremely long time.
   • 2007, Ruth O'Callaghan, "Where acid has etched"

     In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers, the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.

2. (colloquial) A mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.

Translations

Adjective

forever (not comparable)

1. Permanent, lasting