Phrase guide

in any case

prep_phrase · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

prep_phrase

Meaning 1

Whatever be the case.

Regardless (of an aforementioned point).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Who knows how many more inches of snow will fall tonight, but in any case, we can expect to be doing a lot of shoveling tomorrow.
  • Who knows how many more inches of snow will fall tonight, but in any case, let's go to bed.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: whatever the case may be, anyhow, anyway, at any rate, in any event, at all events, regardless

Antonyms: none provided

2

prep_phrase

Meaning 2

Whatever be the case.

Any way one slices it (emphasizing that a point is important no matter what).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • In any case, there are never fewer than two guards on duty here.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: whatever the case may be, at any rate, by any measure, in any event, at all events

Antonyms: none provided

3

prep_phrase

Meaning 3

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, any, case.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Their most popular product, an assortment of ales, is packaged such that there are always at least two bottles of India pale ale in any case.
  • It is not clear that this particular legal question has ever been a determining factor in any case to date.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adverb

Meaning 4

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Anyhow, he is dead now
  • I think they're asleep; anyhow, they're quiet
  • I don't know what happened to it; anyway, it's gone
  • anyway, there is another factor to consider
  • I don't know how it started; in any case, there was a brief scuffle
  • in any event, the government faced a serious protest
  • but at any rate he got a knighthood for it

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: anyhow, anyway, anyways, at any rate, in any event

Antonyms: none provided

5

adverb

Meaning 5

making an additional point; anyway

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I don't want to go to a restaurant; besides, we can't afford it
  • she couldn't shelter behind him all the time and in any case he wasn't always with her

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: besides

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

103 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: على أي حال (ʕalā ʔayyi ḥālin) — at any rate
  • Armenian: համենայն դեպս (hamenayn deps) — at any rate
  • Asturian: sicasí — at any rate
  • Azerbaijani: hər halda — at any rate
  • Azerbaijani: istənilən halda — at any rate
  • Belarusian: у ко́жным ра́зе (u kóžnym rázje) — at any rate
  • Belarusian: ва ўся́кім вы́падку (va wsjákim výpadku) — at any rate
  • Belarusian: ва ўся́кім ра́зе (va wsjákim rázje) — at any rate
  • Belarusian: так ці іна́чай (tak ci ináčaj) — at any rate
  • Belarusian: так ці іна́кш (tak ci inákš) — at any rate
  • Bulgarian: във все́ки слу́чай (vǎv vséki slúčaj) — at any rate
  • Bulgarian: както и да е (kakto i da e) — at any rate
  • Catalan: en tot cas — at any rate
  • Catalan: en qualsevol cas — at any rate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 反正 (fǎnzhèng) — at any rate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不管怎樣 /不管怎样 (bùguǎnzěnyàng) — at any rate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無論如何 /无论如何 (wúlùnrúhé) — at any rate
  • Czech: každopádně — at any rate
  • Czech: v každém případě — at any rate
  • Dutch: in elk geval — at any rate
  • Dutch: in ieder geval — at any rate
  • Dutch: sowieso — at any rate
  • Esperanto: ĉiaokaze — at any rate
  • Esperanto: ĉiuokaze — at any rate
  • Estonian: igal juhul — at any rate
  • Estonian: igatahes — at any rate
  • Finnish: joka tapauksessa — at any rate
  • Finnish: oli miten oli — at any rate
  • Finnish: miten vain — at any rate
  • French: en tout état de cause — at any rate
  • French: en tout cas — at any rate
  • Galician: sicasí — at any rate
  • Galician: en todo caso — at any rate
  • Galician: de calquera xeito — at any rate
  • Galician: sexa como for — at any rate
  • German: jedenfalls — at any rate
  • German: sowieso — at any rate
  • German: trotzdem — at any rate
  • German: auf jeden Fall — at any rate
  • German: unbedingt — at any rate
  • German: allwääg — at any rate
  • Greek: εν πάση περιπτώσει (en pási periptósei) — at any rate
  • Greek: όπως και να έχει (ópos kai na échei) — at any rate
  • Greek: πάντως (pántos) — at any rate
  • Hebrew: בכל מקרה (bekhól mikré) — at any rate
  • Hungarian: mindenesetre — at any rate
  • Icelandic: í öllu falli — at any rate
  • Irish: ar aon chaoi — at any rate
  • Irish: ar aon chuma — at any rate
  • Irish: ar chuma ar bith — at any rate
  • Irish: ar aon nós — at any rate
  • Irish: pé scéal é — at any rate
  • Italian: in ogni caso — at any rate
  • Japanese: とにかく (tonikaku) — at any rate
  • Japanese: 何しろ (nani shiro) — at any rate
  • Korean: 어쨌든 (eojjaetdeun) — at any rate
  • Latin: utīque — at any rate
  • Macedonian: во секој случај (vo sekoj slučaj) — at any rate
  • Māori: ahakoa he aha — at any rate
  • Norwegian Bokmål: i alle fall — at any rate
  • Occitan: de tot biais — at any rate
  • Occitan: en tot cas — at any rate
  • Pannonian Rusyn: у каждим случаю (u každim slučaju) — at any rate
  • Persian: به هر حال (be har hâl) — at any rate
  • Persian: علیایحال (alâ-ayyo-hâl) — at any rate
  • Plautdietsch: jeedenfauls — at any rate
  • Polish: bądź co bądź — at any rate
  • Polish: w każdym razie — at any rate
  • Polish: tak czy inaczej — at any rate
  • Polish: tak czy siak — at any rate
  • Polish: tak czy owak — at any rate
  • Portuguese: de todo modo — at any rate
  • Portuguese: de todo o modo — at any rate
  • Portuguese: de qualquer forma — at any rate
  • Portuguese: seja como for — at any rate
  • Portuguese: em todo o caso — at any rate
  • Romanian: în orice caz — at any rate
  • Russian: в любо́м слу́чае (v ljubóm slúčaje) — at any rate
  • Russian: во вся́ком слу́чае (vo vsjákom slúčaje) — at any rate
  • Russian: так и́ли и́на́че (tak íli ínáče) — at any rate
  • Russian: ка́к бы то ни́ было (kák by to ní bylo) — at any rate
  • Russian: в любо́м де́ле (v ljubóm déle) — at any rate
  • Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù — at any rate
  • Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù no co-dheth — at any rate
  • Serbo-Croatian: у сваком случају — at any rate
  • Serbo-Croatian: u svakom slučaju — at any rate
  • Slovak: v každom prípade — at any rate
  • Spanish: en cualquier caso — at any rate
  • Spanish: de todos modos — at any rate
  • Spanish: en todo caso — at any rate
  • Spanish: de todas maneras — at any rate
  • Spanish: de todas formas — at any rate
  • Spanish: pase lo que pase — at any rate
  • Swedish: hur som helst — at any rate
  • Swedish: i alla fall — at any rate
  • Tajik: ба ҳар ҳол (ba har hol) — at any rate
  • Tibetan: གང་ལྟར — at any rate
  • Tibetan: གང་ལྟར་ཡང (gang ltar yang) — at any rate
  • Tibetan: ཇི་ལྟར (ji ltar) — at any rate
  • Tibetan: ཇི་ལྟར་ཡང (ji ltar yang) — at any rate
  • Ukrainian: у вся́кому ра́зі (u vsjákomu rázi) — at any rate
  • Ukrainian: так чи іна́кше (tak čy inákše) — at any rate
  • Urdu: بَہَر حال (bahar hāl) — at any rate