wherefore 1 of 2

as in therefore
for this or that reason it was getting late, and wherefore we decided to move on

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wherefore

2 of 2

noun

as in reason
something (as a belief) that serves as the basis for another thing demanded to know the whys and wherefores for the decision

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wherefore
Adverb
The musicians, especially but not exclusively Jerry Garcia, whose death in 1995 only technically ended the Dead, prove remarkably articulate about the why and wherefore of their music and the group mind that created it. Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2024
Noun
But none of those 265 pages of wherefores and whereases on the sports authority website are legally binding. Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2024 Eschewing cheap shots, McBride favors a careful, winding excavation – reaching into history for the whys and wherefores of his novels’ crowded casts, while delivering whopper stories with electric finales. Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Oct. 2023 Soccer, though, did not waste time wondering about the whys and wherefores. Ahmed Al Omran, New York Times, 13 July 2023 The political whys and wherefores are important — and might be left to another piece. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 14 May 2023 As in most of Tim and Eric’s sketch humor, there are few whys and wherefores. Austin Considine, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2020 Julian Fellowes, a master writer who understands so well all the peculiarities of time and place, manners and historical significance of the whys and wherefores of his fictional inhabitants, is to be applauded. Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2019 In addition to gleaning the why and wherefore behind America’s foundational document, teenage listeners will meet up with the Declaration of Independence and a roster of seminal Supreme Court decisions. Louis Bayard, New York Times, 28 May 2018 The book casts its spell in revealing the whys and wherefores of the killings, as investigated by Burke’s onetime high school classmate, Rob Barrett, a Boston FBI agent whom Burke likes nothing better than to humiliate. Lloyd Sachs, chicagotribune.com, 21 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wherefore
Adverb
  • The tribunal states that whether its decision has any benefit to the club, therefore, depends on whether the new APT rules are found to be lawful as part of the second challenge issued by the club last month.
    Dan Sheldon, The Athletic, 15 Feb. 2025
  • One option is to keep Pheromone super sticky glue traps, which attract the male moths, therefore removing them from the reproduction cycle, in your wardrobe or around your home.
    Ellie Pithers, Vogue, 15 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • For that reason, Richardson usually doesn't agree to sit down for other productions.
    Ralphie Aversa, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
  • This is perhaps part of the reason for the new naming.
    David Phelan, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
Adverb
  • Older folks tend to be the most at risk, with about 700 people 65 and older dying so far this year from the common virus.
    Harriet Blair Rowan, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2025
  • Curry scored 20 points in the Warriors’ 132-108 win over the Sacramento Kings, in doing so becoming the 21st player in NBA history – and first Golden State player – to score 20 or more points in 700 games.
    Ben Morse, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • There’s got to be a why.
    Vulture, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2023
  • The show never aims its considerable wit and girl power vibe to get a firm grip on the troubling tributaries that flow just underneath the why-ness of the show: These women, nobility be damned, are one and all inextricably tied to a fundamentally-flawed man.
    Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 12 Oct. 2022
Adverb
  • The Kremlin, in turn, has thus far been able to shrug off Ukraine’s strikes.
    Raphael S. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 18 Feb. 2025
  • As a result of this, the weapon is still at large, thus potentially putting students at risk.
    Mike Griffith, Baltimore Sun, 18 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Deputies are investigating the shooting and working to determine a possible motive.
    Mitchell Willetts, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Feb. 2025
  • Police haven’t yet given a motive or made any connection between the stabbing and the Holocaust memorial, known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or the U.S. Embassy located nearby.
    Brie Stimson, Fox News, 22 Feb. 2025

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“Wherefore.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wherefore. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.

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