try as one might

A form of try as one may — However hard one tries; despite one's best efforts.

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Meanings

phrase
  1. alternativeAlternative form of try as one may.

    It was an extraordinary thing that, try as we might, we could not finish our pipes at the same time.

    1890, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “English-grown Tobacco”, in My Lady Nicotine: A Study in Smoke, Boston, Mass.: Joseph Knight Company, published 1896, →OCLC, page 184
    3 more examples

    She again took up the shining skimmer, held it beneath the pump, and began anew. But she could not, as at other times, hit the exact under-surface of the cream with the delicate dexterity required, try as she might: sometimes she was cutting down into the milk, sometimes in the air. She could hardly see, her eyes having filled with two blurring tears drawn forth by a grief which, to this her best friend and dear advocate, she could never explain.

    1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXVII, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume II, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC

    The pub was so noisy it hardly seemed the most sensible place for a top-secret meeting. Try as he might, the boy couldn’t spot his father anywhere. Just as he was about to give up and head home, Frank heard muffled voices coming from the car park. The boy turned round to see some men sitting talking in a Rolls-Royce.

    2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

    Try as they might, Millicent’s parents couldn’t consistently cobble together the funds to pay for her public school tuition.

    2025, Karen Hao, Empire of AI, New York City: Penguin Press, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

try as one might. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20as%20one%20might

MLA

“try as one might.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20as%20one%20might. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “try as one might,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20as%20one%20might.

Source: try as one might on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.