status quo
/ˌsteɪ.təs ˈkwəʊ/US/ˌstæt.əs ˈkwoʊ/
status quo noun: the state of things; the way things are, as opposed to the way they could be; the existing state of affairs.
Noun
status quo (plural status quos or (rare) statuses quo or (rare, hypercorrect) stati quo)
- The state of things; the way things are, as opposed to the way they could be; the existing state of affairs.
- “As a black woman,” Jemisin tells me, “I have no particular interest in maintaining the status quo. Why would I? The status quo is harmful, the status quo is significantly racist and sexist and a whole bunch of other things that I think need to change. With epic fantasy there is a tendency for it...2015 July 27, Noah Berlatsky, “NK Jemisin: the fantasy writer upending the 'racist and sexist status quo'”, in The Guardian
status quo meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Kannada and Tagalog
status quo in Tamil
- உள்நிலை, உள்ள நிலை, தற்போதைய நிலை, நடைமுறை நிலை, நடைமுறை நிலைமை
status quo in Urdu
- بحال
status quo in Kannada
- ಪೂರ್ವಸ್ಥಿತಿ, ಯಥಾಸ್ಥಿತಿ
status quo in Tagalog
- the state of things
- kairalan
More languagesFewer languages
- status quo in Arabic
- الوَضْع الرَاهِن al-waḍʕ ar-rāhin
- status quo in Malay
- status quo
- status quo in Indonesian
- status quo
- status quo in Persian
- وضع موجود vaz'-e mowjud, وضع فعلی vaz'-e fe'li
Forms of status quo
| plural | status quos |
|---|---|
| alternative form | statu quo |
| alternative form | status in quo |
| plural (rare) | statuses quo |
| plural hypercorrect (rare) | stati quo |
Origin of status quo
From Latin status (“state”) (sometimes used in the ablative statū) + quō (“in which”), the ablative of quī (“which”).
Words formed from status quo
Questions about status quo
- What does status quo mean?
- Status quo means the state of things; the way things are, as opposed to the way they could be; the existing state of affairs.
- What is status quo in Tamil?
- Status quo in Tamil is உள்நிலை, உள்ள நிலை, தற்போதைய நிலை. See Status quo meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is status quo?
- Status quo is a noun.
- How do you pronounce status quo?
- Status quo is pronounced /ˌsteɪ.təs ˈkwəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of status quo?
- The plural of status quo is status quos.
Words near status quo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: status quo (page history and authors); status quo (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); status quo (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); status quo (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-status quo.wav, En-ca-status quo.opus.
Cite this entry: “status quo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/status_quo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.