wherewithal

have the wherewithal to (do something)

1. To have the resources, especially financial, needed to do something. She has a fantastic business model, but does she have the wherewithal to get it off the ground? I desperately need a new computer, but I simply don't have the wherewithal to upgrade right now.
2. To have the energy or motivation needed to do something. I knew he was grieving, but I simply didn't have the wherewithal to offer him a sympathetic ear at the time. Sarah was so dejected after losing her job that she just didn't have the wherewithal to go out and look for a new one.
3. informal To have the appropriate level of savvy, initiative, common sense, or resourcefulness to do something. I was surrounded by important industry people, but I didn't have the wherewithal to introduce myself and try to promote my business. I wish I'd had the wherewithal when I was younger to start investing in a pension plan as soon as I got my first job.
See also: have, wherewithal

the wherewithal for (something)

1. The resources, especially financial, needed for something. She has a fantastic business model, but she'll need the wherewithal for it to get off the ground. I really need to upgrade my computer, but I simply don't have the wherewithal for that right now.
2. The energy or motivation needed for something. I knew he was grieving, but I simply didn't have the wherewithal for an emotional, sympathetic conversation at that ungodly hour. Sarah was so dejected after losing her job that finding the wherewithal to go out and look for a new one seemed impossible.
3. informal The appropriate level of savvy, initiative, common sense, or resourcefulness for something. Usually used after "have," especially in negative constructions. I was surrounded by important industry people, so I should have been introducing myself and trying to promote my business. Sadly, I just didn't have the wherewithal for that at the time. I'm starting to wonder whether or not the new Senior Content Manager has the wherewithal for the position.
See also: wherewithal

the wherewithal to (do something)

1. The resources, especially financial, needed to do something. She has a fantastic business model, but she'll need the wherewithal to get it off the ground. I desperately need a new computer, but I simply don't have the wherewithal to upgrade right now.
2. The energy or motivation needed to do something. I knew he was grieving, but I simply didn't have the wherewithal to offer him a sympathetic ear at the time. Sarah was so dejected after losing her job that finding the wherewithal to go out and look for a new one seemed impossible.
3. informal The appropriate level of savvy, initiative, common sense, or resourcefulness to do something. Usually used after "have," especially in negative constructions. I was surrounded by important industry people, but I didn't have the wherewithal to introduce myself and try to promote my business. I wish I'd had the wherewithal when I was younger to start investing in a pension plan as soon as I got my first job.
See also: wherewithal
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*wherewithal (to do something)

the means to do something, especially energy or money. (*Typically: get ~; have ~; give someone ~.) He has good ideas, but he doesn't have the wherewithal to carry them out. I could do a lot if only I could get the wherewithal.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

wherewithal

(ˈʍɛrwɪθɑl)
1. n. money. I don’t have the wherewithal to invest in anything like that.
2. n. motivation; gumption. As soon as I get some wherewithal, I’ll get a new computer.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • a mystery to (one)
  • a shoulder to cry on
  • appear to
  • able to do
  • able to do it
  • a change of heart
  • (one) can whistle for it
  • be badly off
  • a double bind
  • a turn of phrase
References in periodicals archive
But I am unwavering in my conviction that clubs who show the financial and playing wherewithal to drag themselves out of regional rugby should be given the chance to make it all the way to the Premiership.
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* Investment in Technological Wherewithal yields more of it.
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The solution will have two beneficial effects - those most likely to become incapably drunk will not have the wherewithal to purchase alcohol and the public coffers will derive great benefit from the additional revenue.
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A legal agreement would only be effective if he had the wherewithal to pay you.
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"Roy has the wherewithal to be a top-class manager,"
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This is not intended as a facetious remark, as many people do not when they have adequate means; but for most of us who do not have the wherewithal to buy the implied list above in one go.
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But after the wind, rain, and waters of Hurricane Katrina had subsided, only the city's private and charter schools had the wherewithal to reopen in a timely fashion.
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Only the Catholic Church, the repository of teaching and traditions that date to Our Lord's first disciples, "the unmoved spectator of the thousand phases and fashions that have passed over our restless world" (Ronald Knox's phrase), has the guts, the inner wherewithal, to survive.
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Considering these differences, prudent owners should take measures to assure that the construction manager offering Subguard can adequately manage the additional obligations inherent in such a program, and has the financial wherewithal to make the program effective.
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But while it may not have the sort of wherewithal to crawl over rocks and through crevasses, it is available with the "Freedom Drive 1" 4-x-4 system that provides full-time active four-wheel-drive.
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This shows that male wasps have the wherewithal to do a job.
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Employers don't have the time, money, or wherewithal to teach them the practical skills they need to jump the breach between liability and asset.
Real world 101: a new paradigm in higher education: teaching life skills is a priority for this president
An ordinary man must find the courage and the wherewithal to confront extraordinary menaces; through fiction, the author provides a cautionary tale of where human cloning advances and research could lead if scientific experiments are not tempered by moral caution.
The Ahriman Gate
Insurers knowingly accept risk with the intent of diversifying the loss, and in order to maintain their ratings, they must demonstrate their financial wherewithal to absorb the potential loss.
A.M. Best increases surveillance of insurers' catastrophe exposures
It was the contemporaneous development of the arch and discovery of pozzolana mortar, with a new need for large gathering spaces for social institutions, and the availability of wealth from conquests and taxation which provided the wherewithal for buildings that met a compelling 'desire to match the architectural accomplishments of conquered territories in the Hellenistic Greek world'.
Vaulting ambition