per se

1. 1.

   with respect to its inherent nature

   “this statement is interesting per se”

   Synonymsintrinsicallyin and of itself

Questions about per se

What does per se mean?

per se means "with respect to its inherent nature".

What is another word for per se?

Close synonyms include intrinsically, in and of itself. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is per se a common word?

per se is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.