after a fashion

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

Alice gives him a lift to camp; they banter and flirt after a fashion.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

So do we, the Poors, after a fashion.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2025

“When he was excited, he was excited,” said Ford, who told me that he sometimes got a four-page letter on hotel stationery slipped under his door after a fashion show.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2022

It must have worked, after a fashion - Maxwell Snr later named his private yacht the Lady Ghislaine, rather than after Betty or his three older daughters.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2021

As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Related Words

• anyway