Ifs

//ɪfs// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
plural of if form-of, plural
2
Initialism of iterated function system. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
3
Initialism of Input Field Separators. Unix, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, plural, plural-only
4
plural of IF form-of, plural
5
Initialism of information fatigue syndrome. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable

Proper Noun

1
Initialism of Institute for Fiscal Studies: an economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom, which specialises in UK taxation and public policy. UK, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"At the IFS, they laboured in vain to bring the nation’s attention back to the real economic news, which wasn’t the budget so much as the tax and benefit changes set to kick in next month: […]"
2
Institute for State Policy. German
"Two other organizations – the Institute for State Policy (IfS) and the “Ein Prozent” (One Percent) association – were labeled extremist at the same time as the group."

Synonyms

case despite gin if and only if in any case otherwise

Example

"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas."

Etymology

Borrowed from German IfS (“Institut für Staatspolitik”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.