so

¹ American  

[soh] / soʊ /

adverb

1. in the way or manner indicated, described, or implied.

   Do it so.

2. in that or this manner or fashion; thus.

   So it turned out.

3. in the aforesaid state or condition.

   It is broken and has long been so.

4. to the extent or degree indicated or suggested.

   Do not walk so fast.

5. Informal. very or extremely.

   I'm so sad.

6. Informal. (used with the word "not" or in a generally negative statement to emphasize an adjective, noun phrase, or clause) really; surely: My mom is so going to kill me!

   That is so not funny!

   My mom is so going to kill me!

7. very greatly.

   My head aches so!

8. (used before an adverb or an adverbial clause and followed byas ) to such a degree or extent.

   so far as I know.

9. having the purpose of.

   a speech so commemorating the victory.

10. for this or that reason; hence; therefore.

    She is ill, and so cannot come to the party.

11. (used as an affirmative to emphasize or confirm a previous statement) most certainly.

    I said I would come, and so I will.

12. (used as an emphatic affirmative to contradict a previous statement) indeed; truly; too.

    I was so at the party!

13. likewise or correspondingly; also; too.

    If he is going, then so am I.

14. in such manner as to follow or result from.

    As he learned, so did he teach.

15. in the way that follows; in this way.

    The audience was seated, and so the famous speech began.

16. in the way that precedes; in that way.

    So ended the speech, and the listeners arose and cheered.

17. in such way as to end in.

    So live your life that old age will bring you no regrets.

18. then; subsequently.

    and so to bed.

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conjunction

1. in order that (often followed bythat ).

   Check carefully, so any mistakes will be caught.

2. with the result that (often followed bythat ).

   He checked carefully, so that the mistakes were caught.

3. on the condition that; if.

pronoun

1. such as has been stated.

   to be good and stay so.

2. something that is about or near the persons or things in question, as in number or amount.

   Of the original twelve, five or so remain.

interjection

1. (used as an exclamation of surprise, shock, discovery, inquiry, indifference, etc., according to the manner of utterance.)

adjective

1. true as stated or reported; conforming with reality or the fact.

   Say it isn't so.

idioms

1. so as,

   1. with the result or purpose.

      to turn up the volume of the radio so as to drown out the noise from the next apartment.

   2. Older Use. provided that.

      I like any flower, just so as it's real.

2. only / just so many, being a limited or small number or amount.

   I can eat only so many pieces of fruit.

3. not so much, not.

4. so what? what.

5. only / just so much, being a limited amount or quantity; up to a certain point or maximum.

   I can eat only so much fruit; just so much that one can do in such a case.

6. so much,

   1. something, as an amount or cost, that is not specified or determined.

      The carpeting is priced at so much per yard.

   2. all that is or needs to be said or done.

      So much for the preliminaries, let's get down to the real issues.

7. so much as, even.

   He doesn't so much as say hello to me.

8. so to speak. speak.

so ² American  

[soh] / soʊ /

noun

Music.

1. sol.

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SO ³ American  

abbreviation

1. significant other. Also S.O.

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So. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. South.

2. Southern.

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s.o. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. seller's option.

2. shipping order.

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S.O. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Signal Officer.

2. significant other. Also SO

3. Special Order.

4. Standing Order.

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so ¹ British  

/ səʊ /

adverb

1. (foll by an adjective or adverb and a correlative clause often introduced by that) to such an extent

   the river is so dirty that it smells

2. (used with a negative; it replaces the first as in an equative comparison) to the same extent as

   she is not so old as you

3. (intensifier)

   it's so lovely

   I love you so

4. in the state or manner expressed or implied

   they're happy and will remain so

5. (not used with a negative; foll by an auxiliary verb or do, have, or be used as main verbs) also; likewise

   I can speak Spanish and so can you

6. informal indeed: used to contradict a negative statement

   You didn't tell the truth. I did so!

7. archaic provided that

8. and continuing similarly

9. See just

10. approximately

    fifty or so people came to see me

11. I agree; exactly

12. used to express agreement or resignation

13. 1. a certain degree or amount (of)

    2. a lot (of)

       it's just so much nonsense

14. 1. no more can or need be said about

    2. used to express contempt for something that has failed

       so much for your bright idea

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conjunction

1. in order (that)

   to die so that you might live

2. with the consequence (that)

   he was late home, so that there was trouble

3. (takes an infinitive) in order (to)

   to slim so as to lose weight

1. in consequence; hence

   she wasn't needed, so she left

2. used to introduce a sentence expressing resignation, amazement, or sarcasm

   so you're publishing a book!

3. thereupon; and then

   and so we ended up in France

4. used to introduce a sentence or clause to add emphasis

   he's crazy, so he is

5. informal what importance does that have?

pronoun

1. used to substitute for a clause or sentence, which may be understood

   you'll stop because I said so

adjective

1. factual; true

   it can't be so

interjection

1. an exclamation of agreement, surprise, etc

SO ² British  

abbreviation

1. Somalia (international car registration)

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S.O. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. strike out

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so ⁴ British  

/ səʊ /

noun

1. music a variant spelling of soh

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so ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. Somalia

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so More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing so

• I told you so
• and so forth (and so on)
• as (so) far as
• as (so) far as possible
• as (so) far as that goes
• as (so) long as
• as (so) much as
• even so
• every now and then (so often)
• go so far as to
• how come (so)
• in so many words
• is that a fact (so)
• just so
• never had it so good
• not (so) bad
• on one's say-so
• or so
• take it (just so much)
• without so much as

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Usage

The intensive so meaning “very or extremely” ( Everything's so expensive these days ) occurs chiefly in informal speech. In writing and formal speech, intensive so is most often followed by a completing that clause: Everything is so expensive that some families must struggle just to survive. The conjunction so (often followed by that ) introduces clauses both of purpose ( We ordered our tickets early so that we could get good seats ) and of result ( The river had frozen during the night so people walked across it all the next day ). In formal speech and writing, so that is somewhat more common than so in clauses of purpose. Otherwise, either so or so that is standard. Like and, but1 , and or, so can occur as a transitional word at the beginning of a sentence: So all our hard work finally brought results. See also as ¹, and, but ¹.

In formal English, so is not used as a conjunction, to indicate either purpose ( he left by a back door so he could avoid photographers ) or result ( the project was abandoned so his services were no longer needed ). In the former case to or in order to should be used instead, and in the latter case and so or and therefore would be more acceptable. The expression so therefore should not be used

Related Words

See therefore.

Etymology

Origin of so

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English swā; cognate with Dutch zoo, German so, Gothic swa

Example Sentences

Temperatures in such dust clouds reach about -260°C, and pressure is so low that researchers must constantly remove stray gas particles to maintain an ultra-high vacuum.

From Science Daily

NEB researchers had spent years refining Golden Gate Assembly so it could reliably handle large DNA targets made from many fragments.

From Science Daily

Penaud has crossed eight times in 16 matches for club and country so far, compared to 27 tries in 26 appearances in 2024-25.

From BBC

"I was actually laughing to myself and felt so relaxed when I came out afterwards," said Norrie.

From BBC

It highlights six ecosystem regions which it calls "critical for UK national security", based on the likelihood of these ecosystems collapsing and the impacts were they to do so.

From BBC

Related Words

• apparently
• indeed
• quite
• then
• therefore
• thus
• too
• very
• well