why

Plural: whies, why's, whys

Noun

The reason or cause for something.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase `the whys and wherefores'
Reason.
A young heifer.
Alternative form of wye; the name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.

Adv

For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a complete question.
For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a complete question.
With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.
For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).
For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a noun or other phrase.
For which cause, reason, or purpose.
The cause, reason, or purpose for which.

Intj

An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience.

Verb

To ask (someone) the question "why?".

Examples

A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.
I don’t know why he did that
Tell me why the moon changes phase.
That is why the sky is blue.
That's the reason why I did that.
The WHY behind her complex strategy was evident in her final high score.
Why did you do that?
Why him? Why not someone taller?
Why is the sky blue?
Why not tell him how you feel?
Why spend money on something you already get for free?
Why yes, that’s true.
Why, how kind of you!
Why, that’s ridiculous!

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷís (“who”), *kʷid (“what”).
Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.

Synonyms

wherefore, for why, how come, to what end, what for, why so

Scrabble Score: 12

why: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
why: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
why: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

why: valid Words With Friends Word