what-if

[ hwuht-if, hwot‑, wuht‑, wot‑ ]

adjective

1. hypothetical:

   a what-if scenario.

noun

1. a hypothetical case or situation; conjecture:

   a series of what-ifs.

what-if

noun

1. informal.
   a hypothetical question; speculation

   one of the great what-ifs of modern history

Word History and Origins

Origin of what-if¹

First recorded in 1980–85

Idioms and Phrases

Suppose that, as in What if the speaker doesn't get here in time? This expression is in effect a shortening of “what would happen if.” It was first recorded about 1420.

Example Sentences

But what if there's more to the picture than just cholesterol?

From Science Daily

But it’s remains unclear what, if anything, this monster storm could indicate about the rest of California’s rainy season, though it could be the start of a brief stretch of slightly wetter weather.

From Los Angeles Times

What if the secretary feels similarly?

From Slate

What if Todd Solondz made a clay-animation film about a girl who grows up in bizarre circumstances?

From Los Angeles Times

“It was a simple idea of, ‘What if Wallace invents a smart gnome, a robot gnome, to help Gromit in the garden, and things inevitably go wrong?’

From Los Angeles Times