Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

a whole nother

/ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.65 in modern English

Syllables: a w-hole nother
IPA: /ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/

21

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

det

An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other.

American usage; Informal

Example Sentences

""Will the fog be gone by to-morrow morning?" said Patty, disconsolately. "I don't know what we shall do if we have to be a whole 'nother day in the house and in the dark.""
"It's a whole nother bunch of folks over beyond the trees 'cross the tracks."
"They say she look like she have a turtle shell on her back and the healing woman healed that. But that's a whole nother story."
"The problem is when you physically try to impede my progress—then it moves up to a whole 'nother level that you probably can't handle me on. If it's just words, mean little things, I'm not [Joseph] Stalin, say what you want. Get in my way, it's a whole 'nother thing."
"The breeze taps my face with a robe-corner. A lazy blueness, from a whole nother age, is spread all above me."
"Executing it all well, with the feel, look and operation of a real luxury car, is a whole nother ball of wax."

Etymology

Either from a + whole + nother (“different, other”), where nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other, or from whole + another, with whole having been inserted by tmesis. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/
British English: /ə ˈhəʊl ˌnʌðə/

Usage

American usage
Informal

Inflected Forms

a whole 'nother (alternative)

Questions

How do you pronounce a whole nother?: The recorded pronunciation is /ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/.
What does a whole nother mean?: An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other.
Where does a whole nother come from?: Either from a + whole + nother (“different, other”), where nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other, or from whole + another, with whole having been inserted by tmesis. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”).

How to pronounce a whole nother

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “a whole nother”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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