Why's

contraction, noun

contraction, noun ·1 syllable ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    plural of why form-of, plural

    "1977: I was never able to stop the search for the why's and how's of something so senseless as the arms race. (Nobel Peace Prize Alva Myrdal)"

Contraction
  1. 1
    Contraction of why + is. abbreviation, alt-of, contraction

    "I don't want to go to college next year - Really? Why’s that?"

  2. 2
    Contraction of why + has. abbreviation, alt-of, contraction

    "Why's everyone gone home?"

  3. 3
    Contraction of why + does. abbreviation, alt-of, contraction, uncommon

    "Why's he want to do that?"

Synonyms

All synonyms
how comewhat forwhereforewhereforeargumentbaffling problem

Example

More examples

"Why's Maltese absent from the languages list?"

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