Word.ws English Dictionary

why in the world

why in the world interjection: used to add emphasis to “why” in a question.

Interjection

why in the world ...?

  1. (idiomatic) used to add emphasis to “why” in a question.
    • Why in the world would you spend so much money on a toy?

Synonyms of why in the world

Questions about why in the world

What does why in the world mean?
Why in the world means used to add emphasis to “why” in a question.
What part of speech is why in the world?
Why in the world is an interjection.

Words near why in the world in the dictionary

  1. why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free
  2. why come
  3. why for
  4. why God invented
  5. why in God's name
  6. why in the world
  7. why in time
  8. why is the ocean near the shore
  9. why keep a dog and bark yourself
  10. why me
  11. why not

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: why in the world (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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Cite this entry: “why in the world.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/why_in_the_world. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.