in the first place

idiom

1

—used at the end of a sentence to indicate what was true or what should have been done at the beginning of a situation

We should never have gone there in the first place.

I didn't care much for the job in the first place.

2

—used when listing the most important parts of something or the most important reasons for something

I'm not going to tell you because, in the first place, it's none of your business, and in the second place, you would tell everyone else.

Examples of in the first place in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Which, now that Miss Manners thinks about it, may be the reason why this friend took over the meals in the first place. —Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 14 Dec. 2024

Over two-thirds of professional U.S. companies said that their new job ads will no longer have the option of fully remote work this year, indicating a return to the office in 2025 that could herald the same demand for San Francisco housing that raised values so much in the first place. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024

In such cases, the new policy will require the officer to determine whether a warning or referral to the deflection or outreach team would be more appropriate or if enforcement action is warranted in the first place. —Connor Giffin, The Courier-Journal, 13 Dec. 2024

Public sentiment—which helped propel a lot of these efforts in the first place—hasn’t been much help as of late either as consumer focus shifted amid rampant inflation. —Justin Worland, TIME, 13 Dec. 2024