maybe
/ˈmeɪbiː
/ /ˈmeɪbi/adverb
Perhaps; possibly: maybe I won’t go back he was standing maybe 20 or 30 feet away...
- If we manage to beat them in the league this year, well, maybe we will win the league.
- We were at Kempton when he won the King George and we just thought that maybe this was going to be his day.
- Last season we thought we were good enough to win the title, but maybe not mature enough.
Synonyms
perhaps, possibly, conceivably, it could be (that), it is possible (that), for all one knows;
Northern English happen
literary peradventure, perchance, mayhap, haply
rare percase
noun
A mere possibility or probability: no ifs, buts, or maybes...
- In place of concrete evidence and facts, it substitutes possibilities, intentions and maybes.
- ‘We've a confidential list of probables, possibles and maybes in terms of medals,’ she confides.
- Now, there's no ifs, buts and maybes about that.
Phrases
that's as maybe
Origin
Late Middle English: from the phrase it may be (that).