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Synonyms

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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

Well, the Burgundy and Gold went down swinging, after a fashion.

From Washington Times • Dec. 26, 2021

Indeed, the prime minister has already backed the Big Issue's Future Generation Pledge campaign, after a fashion.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2021

While I couldn’t keep up with them for long, I could manage, after a fashion.

From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.