Wherefore
adverb
The word is used to ask the reason for something.
Wherefore are these things hidden?
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
conjunction
The word is used to show the reason or purpose of something.
He was late wherefore he missed the meeting.
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
adverb
The word is used to ask the reason for something.
Wherefore are these things hidden?
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
conjunction
The word is used to show the reason or purpose of something.
He was late wherefore he missed the meeting.
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Literary Usage
Best understood in poetry, classic literature or rhetorical questions.
Wherefore does the hero lament so poignantly?
Pro Tip 2/3Not Location
Do not confuse 'wherefore' with 'where'; it does not pertain to location.
Wherefore did you choose this path?
Pro Tip 3/3Modern Equivalents
In contemporary conversation, use 'why' instead for clarity.
He asked wherefore they were upset, which sounded outdated.
Pro Tip 1/3Literary Usage
Best understood in poetry, classic literature or rhetorical questions.
Wherefore does the hero lament so poignantly?
Pro Tip 2/3Not Location
Do not confuse 'wherefore' with 'where'; it does not pertain to location.
Wherefore did you choose this path?
Pro Tip 3/3Modern Equivalents
In contemporary conversation, use 'why' instead for clarity.
He asked wherefore they were upset, which sounded outdated.
Pro Tip 1/3Literary Usage
Best understood in poetry, classic literature or rhetorical questions.
Wherefore does the hero lament so poignantly?
Pro Tip 2/3Not Location
Do not confuse 'wherefore' with 'where'; it does not pertain to location.
Wherefore did you choose this path?
Pro Tip 3/3Modern Equivalents
In contemporary conversation, use 'why' instead for clarity.
He asked wherefore they were upset, which sounded outdated.
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Quote examples
William Tyndale
English Clergyman
Neither was there any heresy, or diversity of opinion, or disputing about the matter, till the pope had gathered a council to confirm this transubstantiation: wherefore it is most likely that this opinion came up by them of latter days.
Quote examples
William Petty
English Economist
Wherefore when a man giveth out his money upon condition that be may not demand it back until a certain time to come, he certainly may take a compensation for this inconvenience which he admits against himself.
Quote examples
Vitruvius
Roman Author
Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance.
Quote examples
William Petty
English Economist
Wherefore the race being not to the swift, etc. but time and chance happening to all men, I leave the Judgement of the whole to the Candid, of whose correction I shall never be impatient.
Quote examples
William Tyndale
English Clergyman
Christ made the bread the sacrament of his body only: wherefore as the bread is no similitude of his blood, so am I not bound or ought to affirm, that his blood is there present.
Quote examples
Henri Frederic Amiel
Swiss Philosopher
Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.
Quote examples
Isaac Barrow
English Mathematician
Wherefore for the public interest and benefit of human society it is requisite that the highest obligations possible should be laid upon the consciences of men.
Quote examples
Miguel de Unamuno
Spanish Educator
We need God, not in order to understand the why, but in order to feel and sustain the ultimate wherefore, to give a meaning to the universe.
Quote examples
Michel de Montaigne
French Philosopher
If a man urge me to tell wherefore I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed but by answering: Because it was he, because it was myself.
Quote examples
William Tyndale
English Clergyman
Neither was there any heresy, or diversity of opinion, or disputing about the matter, till the pope had gathered a council to confirm this transubstantiation: wherefore it is most likely that this opinion came up by them of latter days.
Quote examples
William Petty
English Economist
Wherefore when a man giveth out his money upon condition that be may not demand it back until a certain time to come, he certainly may take a compensation for this inconvenience which he admits against himself.
Quote examples
Vitruvius
Roman Author
Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance.
Quote examples
William Petty
English Economist
Wherefore the race being not to the swift, etc. but time and chance happening to all men, I leave the Judgement of the whole to the Candid, of whose correction I shall never be impatient.
Quote examples
William Tyndale
English Clergyman
Christ made the bread the sacrament of his body only: wherefore as the bread is no similitude of his blood, so am I not bound or ought to affirm, that his blood is there present.
Quote examples
Henri Frederic Amiel
Swiss Philosopher
Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.
Quote examples
Isaac Barrow
English Mathematician
Wherefore for the public interest and benefit of human society it is requisite that the highest obligations possible should be laid upon the consciences of men.
Quote examples
Miguel de Unamuno
Spanish Educator
We need God, not in order to understand the why, but in order to feel and sustain the ultimate wherefore, to give a meaning to the universe.
Quote examples
Michel de Montaigne
French Philosopher
If a man urge me to tell wherefore I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed but by answering: Because it was he, because it was myself.
Example 1 of 9
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