1
as in assumption
something taken as being true or factual and used as a starting point for a course of action or reasoning
your conclusion may turn out to be accurate, but you're postulating a lot of ifs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in condition
something upon which the carrying out of an agreement or offer depends
there are a number of ifs in the proposal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of if
But the if of the team’s health looms.
—
Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 18 Feb. 2026
The if-then paradigm needs to be simplified.
—Michael Isaacson, Sun Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2026
But even if the prison system reopens those beds — a big if, experts noted — Colorado will still be 230 to 440 beds short in the coming years, according to the 159-page report Brakke presented to the budget committee Friday.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 24 Dec. 2025
With that in mind, even if Cooper succeeds in winning over city leaders—a big if—the potential challenges in leveraging Champions Point’s biggest selling point may only further stymie Cooper in turning the long-unsellable property into something people will pay to visit.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 15 Dec. 2025
If Florida is out of the way due to missing Aleksander Barkov (still a big if), the Atlantic really opens up.
—Sean Gentille, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
The two eventually form an intergenerational friendship that’s genuine, even if its foundation is based on a white lie, and you brace for the inevitable moment — not an if, but a when — of Eleanor getting busted.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2025
If the Nefes report proves true—and again that’s a big if—and Russia seeks to buy back S-400s from Turkey to keep its traditional customers onside, that could further bode ill for a delivery of Su-35s or any other advanced weapons systems to Tehran.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
And that remains, at best, a very big if.
—Andrei Lankov, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 18 Feb. 2026
The if-then paradigm needs to be simplified.
—Michael Isaacson, Sun Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2026
But even if the prison system reopens those beds — a big if, experts noted — Colorado will still be 230 to 440 beds short in the coming years, according to the 159-page report Brakke presented to the budget committee Friday.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 24 Dec. 2025
With that in mind, even if Cooper succeeds in winning over city leaders—a big if—the potential challenges in leveraging Champions Point’s biggest selling point may only further stymie Cooper in turning the long-unsellable property into something people will pay to visit.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 15 Dec. 2025
If Florida is out of the way due to missing Aleksander Barkov (still a big if), the Atlantic really opens up.
—Sean Gentille, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
The two eventually form an intergenerational friendship that’s genuine, even if its foundation is based on a white lie, and you brace for the inevitable moment — not an if, but a when — of Eleanor getting busted.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2025
If the Nefes report proves true—and again that’s a big if—and Russia seeks to buy back S-400s from Turkey to keep its traditional customers onside, that could further bode ill for a delivery of Su-35s or any other advanced weapons systems to Tehran.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
And that remains, at best, a very big if.
—Andrei Lankov, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for if
Noun
-
The revelation demonstrates another way in which black holes and neutron stars push the laws of physics, and casts doubt on assumptions regarding the formation and evolution of these mixed binary systems.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Miss Manners suggests compassion, dignity and an assumption of goodwill and good intentions.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Protest organizers say the action is not only about Noma, but about the broader restaurant industry as a whole and the conditions and personalities that have come to shape it.—
Brock Keeling,
Oc Register,
12 Mar. 2026
-
The results showed that women eventually diagnosed with either of these two conditions — 849 with mild cognitive impairment and 752 with dementia — had larger amounts of p-tau217 in their initial blood sample way back in the mid-to-late 1990s.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
At universities, the study of ancient Chinese texts has historically been scattered across disciplines; now, under government direction, universities are trying to gather that scholarship in new classics departments where, one theory goes, ancient truths can be nurtured and passed down.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
-
His panels included doctors, physicists, engineers and others and their reports in 2020 and 2022, proposed a theory of the incidents.—
Will Croxton,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Those provisions are no longer in the bill.—
Lawrence Mower,
Miami Herald,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The city and company agreed to the establishment of a community task force designed to hold CoreCivic accountable for any violations of the agreement, including provisions requiring it to grant access to the premises within two business days upon the request of law enforcement or city inspectors.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Where the show’s values were once givens, almost diorama labels, now they’re presented as more fugitive and unstable, what its characters would hope the world to be.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Among geologists, there are givens: Humans don’t build things that last a million years.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The suit, filed in Sacramento federal court, argues California’s requirement that all new vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035 improperly regulates fuel economy — an area the administration says falls under the authority of the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.—
Madison Smalstig,
Sacbee.com,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Trump signed into law the first reconciliation bill passed by this Congress last year, extending his tax cuts, funding immigration enforcement, and strengthening work requirements for certain federal social welfare programs.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But there are reportedly other stipulations.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Along with her other stipulations, this was ignored.—
Anika Burgess,
New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The Navajo Nation is the lone exception in Arizona.—
Chris Sims,
IndyStar,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Even the biggest indie acts of the last 15 years or so tend to be solo singer-songwriters masquerading as bands, but Brooklyn’s Geese, the buzziest rock band in years, are a total exception.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“If.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/if. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
