perhaps

per·haps
P3E1R1H4A1P3S1
UK/pəˈhæps/UK/pəˈɹæps/UK/ˈpɹæps/US/pɚˈhæps/

adverb

Possibly.

“There was a perhaps credible witness.”

Similar
bechancebelikemaybemayhapmayhapsperadventureperchancepossibly
OriginMiddle English perhappous ← Old Norse happ ← Proto-Germanic *hampą →
Very commonScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adverbperhaps (not comparable)

alternative perhap

  1. not comparablePossibly.

    There was a perhaps credible witness.

    5 more examples

    Perhaps John will come over for dinner.

    He was seriously wounded, perhaps fatally.

    The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

    With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.

    1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

    It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].

    2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
  2. datednot comparableBy chance.

    […] will live until he dies perhaps, and then lie down in clover.

    c. 1850, “Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl”
nounperhaps (plural perhapses)

plural perhapses · alternative perhap

  1. An uncertainty.

    I cannot conceive what atheism, or skepticism, or positivism could do for me now, with their negations, and endless and contradictory perhapses, and perhapses, and perhapses.

    1870, The Missionary Herald, volumes 66-67, page 167

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
bechancebelikemaybemayhapmayhapsperadventureperchance

adverbby chance

Similar
possiblyperchancemaybemayhapperadventure
Also see
by any chancemaybemayhapperadventureperchancepossibly

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pér
  3. Proto-Italic*per
  4. Latinper
  5. Old Frenchpar
  6. Middle Englishper-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kob-
  8. Proto-Germanic*hampą
  9. Old Norsehapp
  10. Middle Englishhap
  11. Middle Englishperhap
  12. Middle Englishperhappes
  13. Middle Englishperhap
  14. Middle Englishperhappous
  15. Englishperhaps

From Middle English perhappes, perhappous, variant of earlier perhap (“perhaps, possibly”), equivalent to per- + hap (“chance, coincidence”) + -s, on model of Middle English parchaunce (modern perchance).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἴσως
  • ἴσως (ísōs)indicating a lack of certainty
Arabic رُبَّمَا, مِن اَلْمُمْكِن
  • رُبَّمَا (rubbamā)indicating a lack of certainty
  • مِن اَلْمُمْكِن (min al-mumkin)indicating a lack of certainty
  • لَعَلَّ (laʕalla)indicating a lack of certainty
Basque beherbada
  • beherbadaindicating a lack of certainty
Bulgarian мо́же би
  • мо́же би (móže bi)indicating a lack of certainty
Catalan potser, tal vegada
  • potserindicating a lack of certainty
  • tal vegadaindicating a lack of certainty
  • possiblementindicating a lack of certainty
Chinese Mandarin 也許 /也许, 或許 /或许
  • 也許 /也许 (yěxǔ)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 或許 /或许 (huòxǔ)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 或是 (huòshì)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 可能 (kěnéng)indicating a lack of certainty
Czech možná, snad
  • možnáindicating a lack of certainty
  • snadindicating a lack of certainty
Danish måske
  • måskeindicating a lack of certainty
Dutch misschien, wellicht
  • misschienindicating a lack of certainty
  • wellichtindicating a lack of certainty
Esperanto eble
  • ebleindicating a lack of certainty
Estonian ehk, järsku
  • ehkindicating a lack of certainty
  • järskuindicating a lack of certainty
  • vahestindicating a lack of certainty
  • võib-ollaindicating a lack of certainty
  • võibollaindicating a lack of certainty
  • äkkiindicating a lack of certainty
Finnish ehkä, mahdollisesti
  • ehkäindicating a lack of certainty
  • mahdollisestiindicating a lack of certainty
  • kentiesindicating a lack of certainty
French peut-être, possiblement
  • peut-êtreindicating a lack of certainty
  • possiblementindicating a lack of certainty
German vielleicht, wohl
  • vielleichtindicating a lack of certainty
  • wohlindicating a lack of certainty
Greek ίσως, μάλλον
  • ίσως (ísos)indicating a lack of certainty
  • μάλλον (mállon)indicating a lack of certainty
  • ενδεχομένως (endechoménos)indicating a lack of certainty
  • μήπως (mípos)indicating a lack of certainty
Hawaiian paha, malia
  • pahaindicating a lack of certainty
  • maliaindicating a lack of certainty
Hebrew אוּלַי
  • אוּלַי (ulái)indicating a lack of certainty
Hindi कदाचित, शायद
  • कदाचित (kadācit)indicating a lack of certainty
  • शायद (śāyad)indicating a lack of certainty
  • कदाचित् (kadācit)indicating a lack of certainty
Hungarian talán
  • talánindicating a lack of certainty
Icelandic kannski
  • kannskiindicating a lack of certainty
Indonesian mungkin, barangkali
  • mungkinindicating a lack of certainty
  • barangkaliindicating a lack of certainty
  • mungkin sajaindicating a lack of certainty
Irish b'fhéidir
  • b'fhéidirindicating a lack of certainty
Italian forse
  • forseindicating a lack of certainty
Japanese 多分, 若しや
  • 多分 (tabun)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 若しや (moshiya)indicating a lack of certainty
  • …かもしれない (...kamo shirenai)indicating a lack of certainty
  • …でしょう (deshō)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 恐らく (osoraku)indicating a lack of certainty
  • もしかして (moshikasite)indicating a lack of certainty
  • ひょっとして (hyottoshite)indicating a lack of certainty
Korean 아마, 아마도
  • 아마 (ama)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 아마도 (amado)indicating a lack of certainty
  • 어쩌면 (eojjeomyeon)indicating a lack of certainty
Latin fortasse, forsitan
  • fortasseindicating a lack of certainty
  • forsitanindicating a lack of certainty
  • forsindicating a lack of certainty
  • forsitindicating a lack of certainty
  • forteindicating a lack of certainty
  • forsanindicating a lack of certainty
  • fortassisindicating a lack of certainty
Latvian varbūt
  • varbūtindicating a lack of certainty
Lithuanian galbūt
  • galbūtindicating a lack of certainty
Malay barangkali
  • barangkaliindicating a lack of certainty
Māori āwhai, pea
  • āwhaiindicating a lack of certainty
  • peaindicating a lack of certainty
  • ētiaindicating a lack of certainty
Norwegian Bokmål kanskje, kan hende
  • kanskjeindicating a lack of certainty
  • kan hendeindicating a lack of certainty
  • må hendeindicating a lack of certainty
  • muligensindicating a lack of certainty
  • muligvisindicating a lack of certainty
Persian شاید, گاس
  • شاید (šâyad)indicating a lack of certainty
  • گاس (gâs)indicating a lack of certainty
Polish może, bodaj
  • możeindicating a lack of certainty
  • bodajindicating a lack of certainty
  • zapewneindicating a lack of certainty
Portuguese talvez
  • talvezindicating a lack of certainty
Romanian poate, posibil
  • poateindicating a lack of certainty
  • posibilindicating a lack of certainty
Russian возмо́жно, мо́жет быть
  • возмо́жно (vozmóžno)indicating a lack of certainty
  • мо́жет быть (móžet bytʹ)indicating a lack of certainty
  • мо́жет (móžet)indicating a lack of certainty
  • наве́рное (navérnoje)indicating a lack of certainty
Scottish Gaelic 's dòcha, 's mathaid
  • 's dòchaindicating a lack of certainty
  • 's mathaidindicating a lack of certainty
  • dh'fhaoidteindicating a lack of certainty
Slovak možno, snáď
  • možnoindicating a lack of certainty
  • snáďindicating a lack of certainty
  • môžbyťindicating a lack of certainty
  • azdaindicating a lack of certainty
  • pravdepodobneindicating a lack of certainty
Spanish acaso, quizá
  • acasoindicating a lack of certainty
  • quizáindicating a lack of certainty
  • quizásindicating a lack of certainty
  • tal vezindicating a lack of certainty
  • talvezindicating a lack of certainty
  • capaz (que)indicating a lack of certainty
Swahili huenda, pingine
  • huendaindicating a lack of certainty
  • pingineindicating a lack of certainty
Swedish kanske, möjligen
  • kanskeindicating a lack of certainty
  • möjligenindicating a lack of certainty
Thai ไม่แน่, บางที
  • ไม่แน่ (mâi-nɛ̂ɛ)indicating a lack of certainty
  • บางที (baang-tii)indicating a lack of certainty
Turkish belki
  • belkiindicating a lack of certainty
Ukrainian ма́буть, мо́же бу́ти
  • ма́буть (mábutʹ)indicating a lack of certainty
  • мо́же бу́ти (móže búty)indicating a lack of certainty
  • можли́во (možlývo)indicating a lack of certainty
  • мо́же (móže)indicating a lack of certainty
  • пе́вно (pévno)indicating a lack of certainty
Urdu شاید, غالباً
  • شاید (śāyad)indicating a lack of certainty
  • غالباً (ġāliban)indicating a lack of certainty
Vietnamese có lẽ, có thể
  • có lẽindicating a lack of certainty
  • có thểindicating a lack of certainty
Welsh efallai
  • efallaiindicating a lack of certainty
Yiddish אפֿשר
  • אפֿשר (efsher)indicating a lack of certainty

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with perhaps

capsappscollapsetrapstapslapseflapsrelapsechapssynapseslapsschnappselapseapseillapse
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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