in the first place

idiom

1

—used at the end of a sentence to indicate what was true or what should have been done at the beginning of a situation

We should never have gone there in the first place.

I didn't care much for the job in the first place.

2

—used when listing the most important parts of something or the most important reasons for something

I'm not going to tell you because, in the first place, it's none of your business, and in the second place, you would tell everyone else.

Examples of in the first place in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The two attorneys made a slew of arguments to defend their position, including that the pair of lawmakers did not have legal standing to bring a suit related to their official duties in the first place. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 10 Jan. 2026

Produced by Cate Le Bon and composed by the band inside studios owned by Jeff Tweedy and Gilla Band, Secret Love would be a return to form, but Dry Cleaning never fell out of shape in the first place. —Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 9 Jan. 2026

Miami has won three straight playoff games after having been a controversial entrant in the first place. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 9 Jan. 2026

Why are officials focusing on Denmark in the first place? —Grayson Logue, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for in the first place

• aromatase
• hydrogenase
• nitrogenase
• oligoclase
• oxygenase
• plagioclase
• polymerase
• streptokinase
• triphosphatase
• abase
• airspace
• apace