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

The wee powered hardtop mechanism does retract, after a fashion.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

A solitary, bookish boy whose dreams came true, after a fashion, who proved that movies really can change your life — albeit in ways you can never quite plan on.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2024

Nevertheless, true crime can be a passive teacher in the same way all entertainment is, after a fashion.

From Salon • Nov. 11, 2023

“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

Gentle Ser Willem Darry, who must have loved her after a fashion, had been taken by a wasting sickness when she was very young.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• anyway