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
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Recent Examples of if
But all my ‘what ifs’ were about what will people would think, and that’s a dangerous headspace.
—
Marta Balaga, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026
But that’s a big if, and could be the difference between the Valkyries selecting a project like Angloma or a more surefire player that could contribute right away.
—Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2026
That's a huge if against the best front line in the country, though.
—Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2026
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
Marta Balaga, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026
But that’s a big if, and could be the difference between the Valkyries selecting a project like Angloma or a more surefire player that could contribute right away.
—Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2026
That's a huge if against the best front line in the country, though.
—Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for if
Noun
-
Choose clarity over assumption, and move forward with agreements that feel grounded, mutual, and realistic to maintain over time.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 May 2026
-
Ricketts has minor quibbles with some of the assumptions behind these projections.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
The victim was taken to a local hospital and listed in stable condition.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
-
The person who confirmed the FBI’s search was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.—
Eric Tucker,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
But with the arrival of the next course, bread and butter, I was forced to revise my theory.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
10 May 2026
-
The landfill theory made some birding enthusiasts uneasy and prompted some authorities, locals and others to defend Ushuaia, a city of nearly 85,000 that draws tourists to its Antarctic cruise ships and abundant, watchworthy bird population.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Another provision allows pharmacists to provide ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug often prescribed for animals, over-the-counter for adults without a prescription.—
CBS Miami Team,
CBS News,
28 Apr. 2026
-
These provisions combine to make every part of the city’s education spending function like a ratchet.—
Marc Novicoff,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 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
-
Nevertheless, the lawsuit said Bayfront Park Management Trust lacked a proper accounting system and didn’t have requirements for expenses to be supported by a contract or invoice policy, nor a policy or procedure to ensure vendors were selected through a competitive bidding process.—
Tess Riski
May 7,
Miami Herald,
7 May 2026
-
The state also does not have a minimum age requirement to possess a firearm, a law that gun control advocates have criticized for allowing minors to carry guns.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
But the price was worth it for Bischofberger, who persuaded Warhol to give him right of first refusal for his art, a stipulation that the artist upheld until his death in 1987.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
9 May 2026
-
Google removed the stipulation that its on-device AI model would not send data to Google’s servers.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
Sure, there's a good case to be made that the 2027 total solar eclipse is the exception to this rule purely because of the extreme length of totality.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
10 May 2026
-
With the exception of our executive editor, the members of our editorial board are not news reporters or editors.—
Teagan Davidge,
Oc Register,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“If.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/if. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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