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- as it were
as it were
as it were
A qualifier typically used in spoken English to emphasize that something is not exactly as it is being described. I practically work at home, as it were—the office is within walking distance of my house. She's kind of my girlfriend, as it were, but we're not official or anything.
as it were
as one might say; as could be said. (Sometimes used to qualify an assertion that may not sound reasonable.) He carefully constructed, as it were, a huge submarine sandwich. The Franklins live in a small and, as it were, exquisite house.
as it were
(spoken) 1. in some way In my district, we almost vote where we live, as it were – it's right across the street from my house.
2. to some degree That's an interesting combination, as it were, of the two ideas.
as it were
Seemingly, in a way, as in
He was living in a dream world, as it were. A shortening of "as if it were so," this idiom has been in use since Chaucer's time (he had it in his
Nun's Priest's Tale, c. 1386). Also see
so to speak.
as it were
In a manner of speaking; as if such were so.