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to matter

to matter

1.4
To be important or make a difference
  • verb
  • /ˈmætər/
translation icon : importar
  • Why does a contest matter so much?
  • really matters
  • matter much
  • matters little

What rank I had in the Marine Corps matters this much.

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Examples

  • Your vote really does matter, and your vote counts.

  • What you choose to do with your life really does matter to those who care about you.

  • Because you are loved, You matter, and you are not alone.

  • The one thing that might matter more than a mission.

  • For grand strategies to matter, they have to indicate a change in policy.

    Academic text (2011)
  • When asked whether facts matter, Powell said yes, they do.

  • So I think, you know, the longing to matter is extremely deep.

  • Perhaps the good abb was right, after all: for now, all that matters is that I survived.

    Academic text (2011)
  • In math, the content doesn't really matter, just the syntax, Adams explains.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Your opinion matters, so please share it with us.

Synonyms

to mean
vsto matter
1.9

Be important to someone

is about general importance rather than personal significance
to count
vsto matter
406 3.2

To be important or make a difference

is the same general sense and can replace it in most contexts

Idioms

2.2

Whatever happens, it makes no difference

To say that something is true, often when it is surprising

318 1.6

Whatever the situation, the action or result stays the same

198 3.9

It is also true of something just mentioned

161 2.0

A question asking why someone is upset or not feeling well

It will certainly happen, but you do not know when

A phrase that says something will happen despite problems

51 3.2

Something is true whatever way it happens

A very serious situation where someone may die

The most important part of a problem or discussion

Done regularly without extra thought

The most important part of a problem or discussion

Whatever the result, it does not change what someone does or feels

A fact stays true whatever way you look at it

Phrasal Verbs

236 2.4

To be important to someone or something

Compounds

720 6.6

A question about what really happened that the jury must decide

The main topic a talk, book, or picture is about

dark matter
  • Specialized
28 7.5

An invisible substance that does not give off or take in light and pulls things by gravity

Calm and direct about facts without strong feeling

8 4.2

Solid waste that leaves the body after it digests food

matter of law
  • Formal
8 7.4

An issue a judge decides about how the law applies

Something that people expect to happen without special effort

white matter
  • Specialized
7 5.0

Tissue in the brain and spinal cord that carries messages between different brain areas

gray matter
  • Specialized
7 4.1

The darker part of the brain and spinal cord containing nerve cells or used to mean being smart

particulate matter
  • Specialized
4 5.1

Tiny solid or liquid pieces in the air that can harm health

state of matter
  • Specialized
2 3.7

A form that a substance can take, like solid, liquid, or gas

1 3.9

The idea that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system but only changes form

back matter
  • Specialized
1 6.0

Sections at the end of a book that give extra information like appendices and an index

front matter
  • Specialized
1 4.6

Pages at the start of a book, like the title page and table of contents

Parts of plants, such as leaves and stems, that can rot

end matter
  • Specialized
6.5

Written pages after the main text that give extra information, like an index or a list of sources

front matter
  • Texting
7.0

A block of information at the start of a digital file that gives title and date for website tools

A rule that matter cannot be made or destroyed in a closed container, so the total amount stays the same

Happening in a normal, expected way

Pictures like photographs, drawings, or charts in a book that are not written words

Pictures like photos and drawings in a text that explain or decorate it

Information shown in a table using rows and columns

The written words in a book or article, not the pictures

Things people throw away because they are not useful

Text to be printed or published without pictures

How Important

to matter
1.4
to count
406 3.2

Surface Forms

matter infinitive
mattered past
mattered past participle
mattering present participle
matters third person singular

Etymology

Matter as a verb comes from the noun matter meaning 'something of importance', so to matter is to 'be important' or to have importance.