noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier. informal

   "Each man was running over the what ifs in his mind."

2. 2
   A hypothetical case or situation, usually evoked by a sense of anxiety or uncertainty. informal

Verb

1. 1
   To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened. informal

Example

More examples

"Each man was running over the what ifs in his mind."

Related phrases

what-iffery

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