try as one may

English

Alternative forms

• try as one might

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Phrase

try as one may

1. However hard one tries; despite one's best efforts.
   • 1890, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “English-grown Tobacco”, in My Lady Nicotine: A Study in Smoke, Boston, Mass.: Joseph Knight Company, published 1896, →OCLC, page 184:

     It was an extraordinary thing that, try as we might, we could not finish our pipes at the same time.

   • 1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XXVI, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC:

     'It could afford to be materialistic,' said Birkin, 'because it had the power to be something other--which we haven't. We are materialistic because we haven't the power to be anything else--try as we may, we can't bring off anything but materialism: mechanism, the very soul of materialism.'

   • 2013, Michael Myers, Doctors’ Marriages: A Look at the Problems and Their Solutions:

     They didn't persist and quickly drove off, as Sam and Tom tried to ignore them and dismiss the entire experience. But try as they may, they weren't able to forget.

See also

• with all one's might

References

• “try as one might”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “try as I may” in Idioms and phrases, TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.