anyways

A1N1Y4W4A1Y4S1
/ˈɛn.iˌweɪz/

adverb

In any way or respect, at all.

CommonScrabble 16

Meanings

adverbanyways (not comparable)

alternative anyway

  1. not comparablerareIn any way or respect, at all.

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

    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 6, subsection ii
    1 more example

    ...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

    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
  2. CanadaPhilippinesUSconjunctiveinformalnot comparableAnyway, anyhow, in any case.

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

    1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “book 2, chapter 12”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

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

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

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

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

anyways. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anyways

MLA

“anyways.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anyways. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anyways,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anyways.

Source: anyways on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.