perhaps

UK/pəˈhæps/US/pɚˈhæps/

adverbA22 meanings One of the most common words in English · #323 of 15,258leans spoken

Perhaps means possibly, said in a slightly formal way. Perhaps not, perhaps so, perhaps you are right.

It hedges a statement without committing to it, and in British use it also softens a suggestion into a near-instruction: perhaps you could send it today. Perhaps not is a polite refusal. Maybe is the everyday alternative and sits more easily in speech. Note that perhaps is per plus hap, chance — the same hap as in happen, happy and mishap, all of which are about luck.

Definitions of perhaps

1adverbperhapsPossibly.A2~98%
“Perhaps we should leave early to avoid the traffic.”
2adverbsoftenUsed to soften a suggestion.B1~2%
“Perhaps you could turn the music down a little?”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 16 sentences found in the wild and placed 16 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

perhaps is an expression of possibility.

Where it comes from

Middle English perhappes is per plus hap, chance, plus -s, modelled on perchance. Happen, happy and haphazard all come from the same hap, so happiness was originally good luck.

Middle English
perhappes
English, today
perhaps

Built from

perhap · Middle English — perhaps, possibly

From Middle English perhappes, from perhap. From Middle English perhappes, perhappous, variant of earlier perhap (“perhaps, possibly”), equivalent to per- + hap + -s, on model of Middle English parchaunce (modern perchance).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

perhaps in the wild

The feminine form Publia was also quite common, and is found in numerous inscriptions as late as the 3rd century, and perhaps beyond.
Publius (praenomen)
Luyana (Luyaana), also known as Luyi (Louyi, Lui, Rouyi), is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia and perhaps in small numbers in neighboring countries.
Luyana language
A similar painting is in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, possibly not created by Rembrandt himself but probably by one of his pupils, perhaps Carel Fabritius.
Slaughtered Ox
The history of condoms goes back at least several centuries, and perhaps beyond.
History of condoms
A sense of belonging is perhaps the most important community attitude a people can have".
Romanian judicial reform

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Definitions of perhaps

1adverbperhapsPossibly.A2~98%

“Perhaps we should leave early to avoid the traffic.”

2adverbsoftenUsed to soften a suggestion.B1~2%

“Perhaps you could turn the music down a little?”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 16 sentences found in the wild and placed 16 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

perhaps is an expression of possibility.