whereas

Syllables: where·asUK/wɛəɹˈaz//(h)wɛɹˈæz/

whereas adverb: where (that).

Adverb

whereas (not comparable)

(obsolete) Where (that).
- And home she came, whereas her mother blynd / Sate in eternall night […]1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iii

Conjunction

whereas

In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although.
- He came first in the race, whereas his brother came last.
- One significance weakness of phrenology in the eyes of most anatomists, as Anne Harrington has shown, was that the brain comprised two structurally identical cerebral hemispheres, separated by a longitudinal fissure, whereas phrenologists held that the material sub-stratum of various mental...2020 October 5, Paul Turnbull, “Thinking About Craniometry- The Racial Turn”, in Paul Turnbull
It being the fact that; inasmuch as. (Often used to begin recitals; sometimes emboldened or emphasized as a signifier.)
- And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.1778, United States Articles of Confederation

Noun

whereas (plural whereases)

A clause, as in legal documents, stating whereas.
- […]the promise is stated after a whereas, though the promise is the very gist of the action, yet, such a count so framed, will be held good on demurrer.1883, The Insurance Law Journal, Potter and Company
- It had a page or so of whereases.1908, United States Congress, Hearings beginning March 9, 1908 – April 30, 1908

whereas meaning in Arabic and Malay

whereas in Arabic

but in contrast; whilst on the contrary…: عِنْدَمَا ʕindamā

whereas in Malay

but in contrast; whilst on the contrary…: manakala, padahal

Examples of whereas in a sentence

I feel it is most unfortunate that some of the preambles, prefaces, whereases or whatever you want to call it, are put before motions or before resolutions[…]1961, Aluminum Workers' International Union, Biennial Convention:
If it is the desire of any Lodge on the floor that the whereases that were listed in their original Resolution be quoted by the Chairman or by the Secretary[…]1973, Canadian Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Proceedings:

All 40 example sentences with whereas

Forms of whereas

Adverb
alternative form (rare)	whereäs
Noun
plural	whereases

Origin of whereas

From where + as (“that”); first attested in the meaning of "where" in the 14th century. Compare thereas.

Words formed from whereas

otherwhereas

Words that rhyme with whereas

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about whereas

What does whereas mean?: Whereas means where (that).
What is whereas in Arabic?: Whereas in Arabic is عِنْدَمَا (ʕindamā). See Whereas meaning in Arabic.
How do you use whereas in a sentence?: I feel it is most unfortunate that some of the preambles, prefaces, whereases or whatever you want to call it, are put before motions or before resolutions[…]
What part of speech is whereas?: Whereas can be an adverb, a conjunction or a noun.
How do you pronounce whereas?: Whereas is pronounced /wɛəɹˈaz/ (UK).

Words near whereas in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: whereas (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-whereas.ogg.

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