Word.ws English Dictionary

however

Syllables: how·ev·erUK/haʊˈɛvə//haʊˈɛvɚ/

however adverb: nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.

Adverb

however (not comparable)

  1. (conjunctive) Nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.
    • He told me not to do it. However, I did it anyway. / I did it anyway, however. / I, however, did it anyway.
    • She wanted to go; however, she decided against it.
  2. (conjunctive) In contrast.
    • The conference itself went very well. The party afterwards, however, was a disaster.
    • It appears, however, that Korsch took the view that a revolutionary theory must be the 'expression' of a movement, and not an instrument forged outside the movement by leaders or theoreticians.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in...
  3. (degree, fused relative) Regardless of how; no matter how
    • However clear you think you've been, and however many questions you may've answered, there'll always remain some doubts.
    • Any rule of thumb, however true (it is), is useless unless you understand its underlying logic.
  4. (fused relative) Regardless of how; regardless of the way in which.
    • Let me know when you've had your interview, however it goes.
    • However we do this, it isn't going to work.
    Synonyms:
    howsoever, howso, anyhow
  5. (fused relative) In any way in which; how.
    • She offered to help however she could.
    • Wear your hair however you want.
  6. (informal) In any way that one likes or chooses; in a haphazard or spontaneous way.
    • I don't care; just do it however.
    • Nothing was really planned; things just happened however.
  7. (interrogative) How ever: an emphatic form of how, used to ask in what manner.
    • I thought it was impossible. However were you able to do it?
    Synonyms:
    how + the dickens
  8. (obsolete) In any case, at any rate, at all events.
    • Our chief end and highest interest is happiness : And this is happiness to be freed from all (if it may) [or] however from the greatest evils.c. 1680, John Tillotson

Conjunction

however

  1. (proscribed) But, yet, though, although.
    • *She wanted to go, however she decided against it.

however meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

however in Hindi

5. in any way that one likes or chooses
वैसे भी vaise bhī

however in Tamil

எனினும், ஆனாலும், இருந்தாலும்

however in Marathi

मात्र

however in Urdu

however, yet, nevertheless, nonetheless
تاہم tāham
however
مگر magar, اما ammā
More languagesFewer languages
however in Bengali
তবে tobe
however in Telugu
అయితే
however in Malayalam
എങ്ങനെയായാലും, എത്രയായാലും, എന്നിട്ടും, എങ്കിലും
however in Kannada
ಆದರೂ, ಹೇಗಾದರೂ, ಹಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ, ಎಂತಾನುಂ
however in Punjabi
لیکن lekin, ਲੇਕਿਨ lekin
however in Gujarati
જોકે, જો કે
however in Sanskrit
अपितु apitu, पुनर् púnar
however in Arabic
بِأَيَّةِ طَرِيقَة biʔayyati ṭarīqa, عَلَى كُلِّ حَال ʕalā kulli ḥāl
however in Malay
apa-apapun

Examples of however in a sentence

  • I didn't argue with him; I still think, however, that he is wrong.
  • However much I study, I never get good grades.
  • Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
  • Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
  • Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48:

All 40 example sentences with however

Synonyms of however

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of however

Origin of however

From Middle English however, how-ever, how-evere; equivalent to how + -ever. Compare howsoever.

Words formed from however

Words that rhyme with however

17 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about however

What does however mean?
However means nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.
What is however in Hindi?
However in Hindi is वैसे भी (vaise bhī). See However meaning in Hindi.
How do you use however in a sentence?
I didn't argue with him; I still think, however, that he is wrong.
What part of speech is however?
However can be an adverb or a conjunction.
How do you pronounce however?
However is pronounced /haʊˈɛvə/ (UK).

Words near however in the dictionary

  1. Howes Valley
  2. Howeses
  3. Howeth
  4. Howeths
  5. Howett
  6. however
  7. however much
  8. however one slices it
  9. Howey
  10. Howey test
  11. howf

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: however (page history and authors); however (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); however (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); اما (Urdu) (page history and authors); তবে (Bengali) (page history and authors); however (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); however (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); however (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); لیکن (Punjabi) (page history and authors); however (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अपितु (Sanskrit) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-however.ogg.

Cite this entry: “however.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/however. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.