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Whatever vs Somehow - What's the difference?

whatever | somehow |

As an adjective whatever

is unexceptional or unimportant; blah.

As a determiner whatever

is no matter which; for any.

As an interjection whatever

is a holophrastic expression used discourteously to indicate that the speaker does not consider the matter worthy of further discussion.

As a pronoun whatever

is anything; used to indicate that the speaker does not care about options.

As an adverb somehow is

in one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.

whatever

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (lb) Unexceptional or unimportant; blah.
  • *1996 , "Mathias", Lake Placid Comments'' (discussion on Internet newsgroup ''rec.music.phish )
  • *:All in all, I guess I shouldn't be complaining, but the rest of the show, imho, was very whatever -ish.
  • *2007 , (Avril Lavigne), , (The Best Damn Thing) ,
  • *:She's like so whatever  / You can do so much better
  • (lb) At all, absolutely, whatsoever.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
  • Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • No matter which; for any
  • (relative) Anything that.
  • * 1734 , (Alexander Pope), (An Essay on Man)
  • And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.
  • *
  • Whatever utility the work may have outside of its stated boundaries will be largely because of such a nonprovincial approach.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}

    Derived terms

    * whatever creams your twinkie * whatever floats your boat * whatever it takes * whateverism * whateverness

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (colloquial, dismissive) A holophrastic expression used discourteously to indicate that the speaker does not consider the matter worthy of further discussion.
  • Parent: For the last time, brush your teeth!
    Child: Whatever !

    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

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • Anything; used to indicate that the speaker does not care about options.
  • I'll do whatever I can.
    Do you want Chinese or Mexican for lunch today? — Whatever .

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    somehow

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
  • * (1671-1743)
  • *:By their action upon one another they may be swelled somehow , so as to shorten the length.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:Although youngest of the familly, he has somehow or other got the entire management of all the others.
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow , somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
  • Usage notes

    The indefiniteness of somehow is emphasized by the addition of or other .

    Synonyms

    * (l) * someway