ever

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1.
as intensifier.
In informal conversation ever is sometimes used as an intensifier immediately after an interrogative word such as who, what, why, etc.: Who ever can that be? / What ever did you say to him? / Why ever should you think that? These uses should be distinguished from the one-word forms whoever, whatever, etc., which are relative pronouns: I'll do whatever you want. See whatever, what ever; whoever, who ever.

2.
did you ever?
This expression is informal only, and has a distinct Victorian ring:

'And where is she now?' 'In a studio.'...'Did you ever!' said Mrs. Fanshaw—Peel City Guardian, 1892.

3.
ever so.
An older use after if or though with the meaning 'at all, in any degree' now sounds archaic and has almost disappeared:

Though Sir Peter's ill humour may vex me ever so, it never shall provoke me—Sheridan, 1777.

It is now overshadowed by the same phrase used (since the mid-19th century) in positive contexts as an intensive meaning 'extremely, immensely':

It's the greatest idea, and I'm ever so grateful—J. Leland, 1987

Broken bones sounded ever so unpleasant—O. Drake, 2001.

This use is largely restricted to conversational English.

Previous:	eventuality, eventuate, event, evenness
Next:	every, every time, everybody

Idioms beginning with ever:
everywhere
every single one
ever and again
every
every dog has its day
every inch
every little bit helps
every man for himself
every man has his price
every minute counts
everyone
every other
everything
every time one turns around
every which way

In addition to the idiom beginning with ever, also see hardly ever; live happily ever after.

adv

Definition: always
Antonyms: never

IN BRIEF: At all times. Also: at any time or in any way.

If ever you wanted to run fast, now is the time.

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For a list of words related to ever, see:

• Approximations and Generalizations
• Maximizers and Superlatives
• Relative Time - ever: (adv) always, at any time

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See words rhyming with "ever."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Ever.

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Dansk (Danish)
adv. - altid, nogensinde, i alverden, overhovedet, meget, stadig

idioms:

• as ever    som nogensinde
• ever after    til deres dages ende
• ever more    evigt
• ever since    lige siden
• ever so    smadder-
• ever such    vældig
• for ever    for evigt

Nederlands (Dutch)
immer, ooit, versterkend woord

Français (French)
adv. - jamais (avec une négation, un doute), déjà (avec une interrogation), jamais (après un comparatif ou un superlatif), toujours, sans cesse, pour toujours, sans retour, une éternité, éternellement, à jamais, quelque/si/pour ...que/qu'il/elle/etc

idioms:

• as ever    comme toujours, comme prévu
• ever after    pour l'éternité
• ever more    pour toujours
• ever since    depuis lors
• ever so    même si, tellement
• ever such    tellement
• for ever    pour toujours

Deutsch (German)
adv. - immer, jemals

idioms:

• as ever    wie immer
• ever after    seitdem
• ever more    auf ewig
• ever since    seit dieser Zeit
• ever so    so sehr
• ever such    so sehr
• for ever    für immer

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - ποτέ, παρά πολύ, καμιά φορά, κάποτε, πάντοτε, διαρκώς, συνεχώς

idioms:

• as ever    όπως πάντα
• ever after    έκτοτε, από τότε (και στο εξής)
• ever more    εσαεί, για πάντα, στο διηνεκές, στον αιώνα
• ever since    (συνεχώς) έκτοτε, από τότε και έπειτα
• ever so    υπερβολικά, άκρως
• ever such    από κάθε άποψη
• for ever    για πάντα

Italiano (Italian)
sempre, un giorno

idioms:

• as ever    come sempre
• ever after    da allora in poi
• ever more    perpetuamente
• ever since    da allora
• ever so    ogni
• ever such    tale
• for ever    per sempre

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - sempre, já, nunca (após comparativo)

idioms:

• as ever    como sempre
• ever after    para sempre
• ever more    para sempre
• ever since    desde então
• ever so    muito, extremamente
• ever such    uma pessoa ou coisa muito boa
• for ever    para sempre

Русский (Russian)
когда-либо, всегда, вечно

idioms:

• as ever    Ваш/Твой
• ever after    с тех пор, всю жизнь
• ever more    навсегда
• ever since    с тех пор
• ever so    очень, гораздо, как бы то ни было
• ever such    очень
• for ever    навсегда, навеки

Español (Spanish)
adv. - siempre, nunca, jamás

idioms:

• as ever    como siempre
• ever after    desde entonces
• ever more    para siempre
• ever since    desde que, desde entonces
• ever so    muy, mucho, muchísimo
• ever such    muy
• for ever    para siempre

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - någonsin, alltid

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
曾经, 永远, 究竟

idioms:

• as ever    像往常一样...
• ever after    从那以后, 以后一直
• ever more    永远, 始终
• ever since    自从
• ever so    非常
• ever such    很, 非常
• for ever    永远, 永久地

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 曾經, 永遠, 究竟

idioms:

• as ever    像往常一樣...
• ever after    從那以後, 以後一直
• ever more    永遠, 始終
• ever since    自從
• ever so    非常
• ever such    很, 非常
• for ever    永遠, 永久地

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 언제나, 여태껏, 도대체, 아주

idioms:

• as ever    언제나처럼

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - いつか, かつて, 今までに, どんなときも, 今だかつて, いったい, 一体全体, 今まで, 本当に, 仮にも
conj. - …して以来ずっと

idioms:

• as ever    相変わらず
• ever after    その後ずっと
• ever more    かつて以上に, より一層
• ever since    それ以来ずっと
• ever so    どんなに, 非常に
• ever such    とても…な
• for ever    永久に, いつも
• if ever    やるとすれば, やるとしても

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) أبدا, دائما‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮אי פעם, בזמן כל שהוא, בכלל, מעולם, מעודו‬

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