"maybe" meaning in English

See maybe in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˈmeɪbi/ [UK, US] Audio: en-us-maybe.ogg [US], en-uk-maybe.ogg [UK]
enPR: mā'bē [UK, US]
  1. If you say that maybe something will happen or that maybe it is true, you mean there is a chance of those things.
    Sense id: simple-maybe-en-adv-yEiS5mnN
  2. You use maybe when you are not sure about something.
    Sense id: simple-maybe-en-adv-Em1nabcs
     
{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Maybe someday I'll learn how to drive."
        },
        {
          "text": "Yeah. I thought, you know, maybe if I tried again, it might work."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you say that maybe something will happen or that maybe it is true, you mean there is a chance of those things."
      ],
      "id": "simple-maybe-en-adv-yEiS5mnN"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Maybe you ought to look at this again."
        },
        {
          "text": "There are, uh, maybe twenty or twenty two people in the group."
        },
        {
          "text": "\"Is that the right answer?\" \"No, maybe not.\""
        },
        {
          "text": "It's good, maybe even great."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use maybe when you are not sure about something."
      ],
      "id": "simple-maybe-en-adv-Em1nabcs"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "mā'bē",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪbi/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-maybe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-maybe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "maybe"
}

{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Maybe someday I'll learn how to drive."
        },
        {
          "text": "Yeah. I thought, you know, maybe if I tried again, it might work."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you say that maybe something will happen or that maybe it is true, you mean there is a chance of those things."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Maybe you ought to look at this again."
        },
        {
          "text": "There are, uh, maybe twenty or twenty two people in the group."
        },
        {
          "text": "\"Is that the right answer?\" \"No, maybe not.\""
        },
        {
          "text": "It's good, maybe even great."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use maybe when you are not sure about something."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "mā'bē",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪbi/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-maybe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-maybe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "maybe"
}

Download raw JSONL data for maybe meaning in English (0.8kB)

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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