after a fashion

Idioms and Phrases

Also, after a sort . Somehow or other; not very well, as in John can read music, after a fashion , or He managed to paint the house after a sort . The first phrase, in which fashion means “a manner of doing something,” has been so used since the mid-1800s, when it replaced in a fashion . The variant dates from the mid-1500s. Also see in a way ; (somehow) or other .

Related Words

• anyway