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While vs Whatever - What's the difference?

while | whatever |

As a noun while

is an uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

As a conjunction while

is during the same time that.

As a verb while

is to pass (time) idly.

As an adjective whatever is

(lb) unexceptional or unimportant; blah.

As a determiner whatever is

no matter which; for any.

As an interjection whatever is

(colloquial|dismissive) 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.

while

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
  • He lectured for quite a long while .

    Conjunction

    (wikipedia while) (English Conjunctions)
  • During the same time that.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye.}}
  • * 1948 , , North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States , J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25,
  • While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.}}
  • Although.
  • * 2013 September 28, (Kenan Malik), " London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
  • While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
  • (Northern England, Scotland) Until.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.
  • As long as.
  • * I. Watts
  • Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to overload it.

    Verb

    (whil)
  • To pass (time) idly.
  • * Longfellow
  • The lovely lady whiled the hours away.
  • To loiter.
  • (Spectator)

    Derived terms

    * while away * meanwhile * the while

    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

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    Anagrams

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