Definition of そもそも

そもそもsomosomo^☆《抑・抑抑・抑々》

adverbial noun:

in the first place; to begin with; from the start; originally; ab initio

conjunction:

after all; anyway; actually; well, ...; ... on earth (e.g. "what on earth?"); ... in the world (e.g. "why in the world?") - used when bringing up something already mentioned

noun / ~の noun:

beginning; start

Example Sentences

そもそもsomosomo 指名手配shimeitehai されたsareta だけdake でde はha「犯人hannin」じゃないjanai ですdesu。: In any case, just being wanted by the police isn't enough to make you "a criminal."
私watashi はha 彼kare にni 言い聞かせているiikikaseteiru がga、彼kare はha そもそもsomosomo 聞く耳を持たないkikumimiwomotanai。: I've tried reasoning with him but he just won't listen.
そもそもsomosomo 彼kare がga 来たkita としたらtoshitara、驚きodoroki だda。: If he comes at all, it will be surprising.
そもそもsomosomo 責任者sekininsha がga 責任をとらないsekininwotoranai ならnara、存在sonzai するsuru 意味imi がga ないnai ではないdehanai かka。: Is there an existing meaning if the person in charge does not take the responsibility to begin with?
そもそもsomosomo 事故jiko のno 大半taihan はha 熱帯雨林nettaiurin ではなくdehanaku、身近なmijikana 場所basho でde おこるokoru のno であるdearu。: Most accidents, after all, happen around the corner, not in the rainforest.

© Based on JMdict, KANJIDIC2, and JMnedict, property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used in conformance with the Group's licence. Example sentences from the Tatoeba project (CC BY 2.0). Kanji stroke order data from the KanjiVG project by Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0). See comprehensive list of data sources for more info.