in the first place

phrase

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

Trash cans filled with food scraps are a welcome feast for household pests like roaches, flies, and ants, but a countertop compost bin is a simple way to stop attracting them in the first place. — Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026

His answer was, in a sense, to navigate them backward, reverse engineering some of the routes and shell corporations that brought American goods to Afghanistan in the first place. — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

A number of us felt like the slipper would fit on our feet, if only Bob Iger would take it off in the first place. — Bob Chapek, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2026

What causes snoring in the first place Most snoring comes down to what happens inside the airway once the body relaxes. — Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for in the first place

• aromatase
• oligoclase
• plagioclase
• polymerase
• streptokinase
• triphosphatase
• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace