Word.ws English Dictionary

for why

for why adverb: for what reason; why.

Adverb

for why (not comparable)

  1. (nonstandard) For what reason; why.
    • As she tied the boxes, her curiosity could no longer be contained. "Mister," she said, "for why do you need such hats?"2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 62

Questions about for why

What does for why mean?
For why means for what reason; why.
What part of speech is for why?
For why is an adverb.

Words near for why in the dictionary

  1. for want of
  2. for weal or woe
  3. for what
  4. for what it's worth
  5. for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful
  6. for why
  7. for worlds
  8. for XYZ reasons
  9. for ya
  10. for you
  11. for your eyes only

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for why (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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