# whoever

Pronunciation: US say "hoo-EV-ur" /huˈɛvɚ/; UK say "hoo-EV-uh" /huˈɛvə/

## Pronoun

1. Any person or persons that do a particular thing, with no limit on who can qualify.
   - Simple: Any person at all who does a certain thing.
   - _Whoever submits the best design will be hired for the project._
   - _The committee will fund whoever presents the strongest proposal._
2. The particular person that did something, no matter who that person turns out to be.
   - Simple: The one person who did something, even when you do not know who that is.
   - _Whoever sent the anonymous letter clearly knew the family well._
   - _The police want to find whoever started the fire._
3. No matter which person or persons are involved, with the main point holding regardless of their identity.
   - Simple: No matter which person it is, used when their identity does not change things.
   - _Whoever ends up leading the team, the deadline stays the same._
   - _We will welcome the new neighbors, whoever they may be._
4. An emphatic form of 'who' used in questions to express surprise or puzzlement.
   - Simple: A stronger way of asking 'who', used to show surprise or shock.
   - _Whoever would believe a tale quite like that?_
   - _Whoever could be calling at this hour of the night?_
5. Any person or persons at all, used casually when the exact identity does not matter. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Any person at all, used in a casual way when it does not matter who.
   - _If nobody answers the door, leave the package with a neighbor or whoever._
   - _Honestly, they can promote whoever; I'm leaving next month anyway._

## Origin

From Middle English whoever, formed from who plus ever.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/whoever (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).