as it were
English
Etymology
From Middle English as it were, as hyt were, als it were, als hit were, from Old English *ealswā hit wǣre, attested only as swā hit wǣre and swylċe hit wǣre (“as it were”, literally “as it would be”).
Adverb
as it were (not comparable)
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see as, it, were.
- Used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not exact though practically right; as if it were so.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Numbers 23:22, column 2:
- God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the ſtrength of an Vnicorne.
- 1884, Edwin Abbott Abbott, Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions:
- Yet so strong is the parental ambition among those Polygons who are, as it were, on the fringe of the Circular class, that it is very rare to find a Nobleman of that position in society, who has neglected to place his first-born in the Circular Neo-Therapeutic Gymnasium before he has attained the age of a month.
- 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 91:
- [T]here was no very clear vision, to these people, of supra-mundane beings, sitting apart and ordaining the affairs of earth, as it were from a distance.
- Synonyms: so to speak, in a manner of speaking, in a way
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- Used to draw attention to the use of a metaphor, sometimes to prevent confusion or to highlight wordplay.
- She gave all of the women seated at the restaurant food for thought, as it were.
- Concerns that cloud seeding might “steal” water from an area a cloud is traveling toward—robbing Peter to water Paul, as it were—have been dispelled.
- 2014 March 3, “A Powerful New Way to Edit DNA”, in New York Times:
- Scientists hope Crispr might also be used for genomic surgery, as it were, to correct errant genes that cause disease.
- 2015 November 5, “Stop Calling Yourselves Engineers”, in The Atlantic:
- The Volkswagen diesel-emissions exploit was caused by a software failing, even if it seems to have been engineered, as it were, deliberately-
- 2017 March 31, “Hail Cesar!”, in National Review:
- Congress ended the bracero program in 1964, and the next 15 years were the salad days, as it were, for farmworkers
- Synonyms: so to speak, if you will, to coin a phrase, no pun intended
Translations
to indicate a word or statement is not exact
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Further reading
- thefreedictionary.com
- as it were at OneLook Dictionary Search
- as in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- sweatier, taweries, weariest