anyways

English

Alternative forms

• anyway

Etymology

From any + adverbial genitive of way (compare always).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.iˌweɪz/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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Adverb

anyways (not comparable)

1. (rare) In any way or respect, at all.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 6, subsection ii:

     it behoves them […] to remove all objects, causes, companies, occasions, as may anyways molest him […].

   • 1851, Church Wardens of Burlington, “The Church Wardens &c. of Burlington to the Honourable Society. Burlington, 28th, 1715”, in Collections of the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society, volume 1, →OCLC, page 76:

     ...we are bound to assert that we never heard either in his public discourses or private conversation, anything that might tend towards encouraging sedition, or anyways insolencing the government

2. (conjunctive, informal, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Anyway, anyhow, in any case.
   • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “book 2, chapter 12”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

     "Anyways," said the damsel, "I am glad punishment followed, and I say so."

References

• “anyways”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “anyways”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.