anyway

English

Alternative forms

• (chiefly Canada, US) anyways

Etymology

From any +‎ way.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛniweɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Adverb

anyway (not comparable)

1. (conjunctive) Regardless; anyhow. [from 19th c.]

   He didn't enjoy washing his car, but it was so dirty that he did it anyway.

   • 2016, JoAnneh Nagler, How to be an artist without losing your mind, your shirt, or your creative compass, →ISBN, page 85:

     Raymond Carver had only moments late at night to write after grueling day jobs, tense relationships, putting kids to bed, and dealing with his own alcoholism. And he wrote anyway.

2. Used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement. See anyhow and at least. [from 19th c.]

   I don't think that's true. I haven't found any evidence, anyway.

   • 1962, Bob Dylan, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”, in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan‎^[1], Columbia Records:

     But I wish there were somethin’ you would do or say
     To try and make me change my mind and stay
     We never did too much talkin’ anyway
     Don’t think twice, it’s all right.

3. Used to indicate a change of subject.
   • 2005, Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills:

     "I'll be ninety my next birthday, but Louella doesn't tell her age. Anyway, we're going to have you and Cynthia up for supper."

4. Used at the end of a question for emphasis, or to direct the conversation to something of more broad importance (compare with more to the point).
   • 1899, Jack London, “To the Man on the Trail”, in The Overland Monthly, page 36:

     “But I say, Kid, isn't that going it a little too strong? Whisky and alcohol's bad enough; but when it comes to brandy and pepper-sauce and—” ¶ “Dump it in. Who's making this punch, anyway?”

   • 1990, Nightline, Ted Koppel (actor):

     The name, Barry Frank, the name of the game when it comes to money these days, in every sport, is television revenue. How do they get enough money- let me back up a minute. How did the United States get the World Cup anyway? Of all the countries in the world, you'd think we'd be the last one to get it.

     Accessed via COCA

   • 1992, Timothy Zahn, Heir to the Empire, Spectra, →ISBN, page 154:

     “We should probably wait until Luke gets here to talk about it,” Leia suggested quietly before Han could answer. Lando glanced past Han, as if only just noticing Luke's absence. “Where is he, anyway?”

5. (obsolete) In any way. [16th–19th c.]
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 5:

     He that sleeps in the day-time, or is in suspense, fear, anyway troubled in mind, or goes to bed upon a full stomach, may never hope for quiet rest in the night […].

Synonyms

• anywise, anyroad, any road up, any old way; see also Thesaurus:regardless

Derived terms

• the grapes are sour anyway

Translations

regardless — see also either way

• Arabic: عَلَى كُلِّ حَال (ʕalā kulli ḥāl)

  Egyptian Arabic: عَلَى الْعُمُوم (ʕalā l-ʕomūm), كِده كِده (keda keda)

  North Levantine Arabic: على كل حال (ʕalā kil-ḥāl, ʕa kil-ḥāl)

  South Levantine Arabic: مع هيك (maʕ hēk), هيك هيك (hēk hēk)

• Azerbaijani: yenə də
• Catalan: malgrat tot, tanmateix (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 都, 照 (yue) (ziu³)

  Mandarin: 照樣 / 照样 (zh) (zhàoyàng)

• Dutch: toch (nl), desondanks (nl), trots dat (archaic)
• Esperanto: malgraŭe, tamen (eo), spite tion
• Finnish: kuitenkin (fi), siitä huolimatta
• French: quand même (fr), de toute façon (fr), malgré tout (fr)
• Galician: mesmo así, aínda así, de calquera maneira, de todas as maneiras
• German: trotzdem (de), ohnehin (de)
• Greek: ούτως ή άλλως (el) (oútos í állos), όπως και να έχει (ópos kai na échei), εν πάση περιπτώσει (el) (en pási periptósei), έτσι κι αλλιώς (el) (étsi ki alliós), πάντως (el) (pántos)

  Ancient: ὅμως (hómōs)

• Hebrew: בכל מקרה (bekhól mikré), בכל זאת (bekhól zót), מכל מקום (he), בכל אופן (bekhól ófen), גם ככה (he) (gam kácha)
• Hungarian: azért (hu), attól még, mégis (hu), mégiscsak (hu), ennek ellenére (hu), ettől függetlenül, mindenesetre (hu)
• Icelandic: allavega
• Italian: senza riguardo, comunque (it), tanto (it)
• Malayalam: എന്നിട്ടും (ml) (enniṭṭuṁ)
• Maltese: xorta waħda
• Māori: me aha koa
• Norwegian: i alle fall (no), i hvert fall (no)
• Persian: در هر حال (dar har hâl)
• Polish: i tak (pl)
• Portuguese: mesmo assim, de qualquer forma, de qualquer maneira, de todo modo
• Romanian: oricum (ro), chiar și-așa, și-așa
• Russian: несмотря́ на [что́-либо] (nesmotrjá na [štó-libo]), всё равно́ (ru) (vsjo ravnó)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù, co-dhiù no co-dheth
• Spanish: aun así (es), a pesar de todo, comoquiera, igual (es)
• Swedish: ändå (sv), i alla fall (sv)
• Tày: bạt tầư
• Turkish: yine de
• Vietnamese: bất chấp (vi)
• Welsh: beth bynnag, pa un bynnag, ta beth, ta p'un i, ta waeth, sut bynnag

used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement

• Arabic: عَلَى أَيُّ حَالٍ (ʕalā ʔayyu ḥālin)

  Egyptian Arabic: كِده كِده (keda keda)

  North Levantine Arabic: على كل حال (ʕalā kil-ḥāl, ʕa kil-ḥāl)

  South Levantine Arabic: هيك هيك (hēk hēk)

• Azerbaijani: onsuz da
• Catalan: de qualsevol manera, en fi
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 橫𠶧 / 横𠶧 (waang⁴ dim⁶)

  Mandarin: 反正 (zh) (fǎnzheng), 無論如何 / 无论如何 (zh) (wúlùnrúhé)

• Czech: v každém případě
• Dutch: in elk geval, in ieder geval, hoe dan ook, tenminste (nl)
• Esperanto: almenaŭ (eo)
• Finnish: ainakaan (fi)
• French: en tout cas (fr), de toute façon (fr), d'ailleurs (fr), de toute manière (fr)
• German: auf jeden Fall (de), jedenfalls (de)
• Greek: εν πάση περιπτώσει (el) (en pási periptósei), τέλος πάντων (el) (télos pánton), πάντως (el) (pántos)
• Hebrew: בכל מקרה (bekhól mikré), בכל זאת (bekhól zót)
• Hungarian: amúgy is, amúgy sem, különben is (hu), különben sem, egyébként is, egyébként sem, mindenesetre (hu)
• Irish: ar aon chaoi
• Italian: in ogni caso (it)
• Japanese: とにかく (ja) (tonikaku), どうせ (ja) (dōse), 何しろ (ja) (nanishiro), いずれにしても (ja) (izure ni shite mo)
• Korean: 아무튼 (ko) (amuteun), 어쨌든 (ko) (eojjaetdeun)
• Malayalam: എന്തായാലും (entāyāluṁ)
• Norwegian: uansett (no)
• Portuguese: mesmo (pt)
• Romanian: oricum (ro), și-așa
• Russian: в любо́м слу́чае (ru) (v ljubóm slúčaje), так и́ли и́на́че (ru) (tak íli ínáče), во вся́ком слу́чае (ru) (vo vsjákom slúčaje)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù, co-dhiù no co-dheth
• Spanish: “pues, por lo menos…” (literally “well, at least…”)
• Swedish: i alla fall (sv), ändå (sv), hur som helst (sv)
• Turkish: zaten (tr), her hâlükârda
• Ukrainian: так чи іна́кше (tak čy inákše), в уся́кому ра́зі (v usjákomu rázi)

used to indicate change of subject — see also alas

• Asturian: falando de too un poco
• Azerbaijani: nəisə
• Danish: hvorom alting er
• Dutch: in elk geval, in ieder geval, maar goed, hoe dan ook
• Esperanto: kiel ajn (estas), ĉiaokaze
• Finnish: miten vain, joka tapauksessa (fi), se sikseen
• French: bref (fr)
• German: wie auch immer
• Greek: τέλος πάντων (el) (télos pánton)
• Hindi: ख़ैर (xair)
• Hungarian: amúgy (hu), egyébként (hu), szóval (hu), mindenesetre (hu)
• Italian: comunque (it), ad ogni modo
• Japanese: とにかく (ja) (tonikaku)
• Korean: 그런데 (ko) (geureonde)
• Latin: ceterum
• Persian: در هر حال (dar har hâl)
• Portuguese: de qualquer modo
• Romanian: oricum (ro)
• Russian: кста́ти (ru) (kstáti), ла́дно (ru) (ládno)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù, co-dhiù no co-dheth
• Serbo-Croatian: uglavnom (sh)
• Spanish: pero bueno (literally “but alright”), pues nada, en fin, o lo que sea (present), o lo que fuese​/​fuera (imperfect), o lo que fuere (future)
• Swedish: hur som helst (sv), i alla fall (sv), aja (sv)
• Turkish: neyse (tr), her neyse
• Urdu: خیر (xair)

used at the end of a question for emphasis, or to direct the conversation to something of more broad importance

• Spanish: y además, ¿… (literally “and besides,…”)

(obsolete) in any way — see however

Danish

Etymology

From English anyway

Adverb

anyway

1. Used to indicate a change of topic.

Synonyms

• hvorom alting er (slightly formal)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English anyway.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ.ni.wɛ/ ~ /e.ni.wɛ/, /ɛ.ni.wɛj/ ~ /e.ni.wɛj/, /ɛj.ni.wɛj/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adverb

anyway

1. (Canada, informal) anyway

   Synonym: de toute façon

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English anyway.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeniwei/ [ˈe.ni.wei̯]
• Rhymes: -eniwei
• Syllabification: a‧ny‧way

Adverb

anyway

1. (colloquial, Internet slang, US, Puerto Rico) anyway

   Synonym: de todos modos

Further reading

• “anyway”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010