Whenabout
adv, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The approximate time. uncountable
"After a dogged silence of long months, in which there have been scores of anxious inquiries on the part of our readers, as to his whereabout, whatabout, and whenabout,—and when-to-be-about,—the Indifferent Man has at length, in the cool indifference of his own good time, 'forked over' the stanzas below, composed on the daguerreotype shadow of a sweetheart whom he had never seen."
- 1 Approximately in time. not-comparable, obsolete
"In the first place, I wish to congratulate the Premier upon the spirit which has inspired him to bring about the change from “colony” to “dominion"; and the only defect in the spirit I can really find isthat^([sic]) he is premature to the extent of whenabout fifty years."
- 2 At what approximate time. not-comparable
"Having expected the Rector of Faringdon for some time at my house, I could not so well say whenabout we should endeavour to get to Town; […]"
Example
More examples"In the first place, I wish to congratulate the Premier upon the spirit which has inspired him to bring about the change from “colony” to “dominion"; and the only defect in the spirit I can really find isthat^([sic]) he is premature to the extent of whenabout fifty years."
Etymology
From when + about.
More for "whenabout"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.