sowieso

Etymology

Borrowed from German sowieso. The negated sense niet sowieso (“not necessarily”) does not exist in German, which uses nicht unbedingt instead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzoːʋizoː/, /zoːʋiˈzoː/

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

sowieso

1. anyhow, in any case, anyway

   Het maakt me niet uit dat het feest niet doorgaat. Ik wilde er sowieso niet naartoe.

   I don’t care that the party was cancelled. I didn’t want to go there anyway.

2. necessarily, in all cases

   Duurder hoeft niet sowieso beter te zijn.

   More expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better.

Etymology

Literally: “so like so”, that is “this way and that way”, “anyway”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzoːvizo/, /zoviˈzoː/

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

Adverb

sowieso

1. anyway, anyhow, in any case

   Es macht mir nichts aus, dass die Feier ausfällt. Ich wollte da sowieso nicht hin.

   I don’t care that the party was cancelled. I didn’t want to go there anyway.

Interjection

sowieso

1. something; replaces unknown or unimportant words

   Das Nummernschild war K sowieso 132. Ich hab’s nicht genau gesehen.

   The number plate was K something 132. I couldn’t really see it.

2. of course; sure; that’s a given; expresses agreement to a statement with the implication that it is trivial

   Männer sind halt alle gleich. — Sowieso.

   Men are all the same. — Course.

Further reading

• sowieso in Duden online