maybe
Possible; uncertain.
Adjective
- Possible; uncertain.
- Then add those may-be years thou hast to live - 1687, John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther, part III line 294:
Origin
From an ellipsis of Middle English it may be, equivalent to may + be. Compare mayhap.
Forms
Adverb
- Perhaps, possibly.
- A small extra effort now can maybe save you much work later.
- Maybe I was imagining it, but I could swear that the dog understood what I was saying.
- Perhaps that is true (expressing no commitment to a decision or a neutral viewpoint to a statement).
- Okay. See you later, maybe. — Maybe I’ll see you later. - 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- Certainly.
- Maybe not the best idea.
Forms
Synonyms
mayhaps peradventure perhaps possibly could be might be that’s possible
Derived
and I don't mean maybe maybe baby bias maybe baby effect maybeish maybeness maybeso maybe type
Noun
- Something that is possibly true.
- An answer that shows neither agreement nor disagreement.
- The results of the poll were inconclusive. We got two yeses, three nos, and four maybes.
- A future event that may or may not happen.
- About your raise: it's a big maybe.