as it were

Idioms  

1. Seemingly, in a way, as in He was living in a dream world, as it were. A shortening of “as if it were so,” this idiom has been in use since Chaucer's time (he had it in his Nun's Priest's Tale, c. 1386). Also see so to speak.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

as it were

"We don't mind the gamification of Taylor Swift, as it were," says Dani Winchester, an event planner and co-host of the Taylearning podcast.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

But the realization dawned that Ronnie might, as it were, take the bullet for Stuart.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

After years at war – or performing military service as it were – they’re back to pick up where they left off with their lives, music and fans.

From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026

They aimed to retain the “breathing units” of biblical speech, even if that meant straining German with Hebraic syntax; the criteria, Mendes-Flohr observes, were “not aesthetic but, as it were, respiratory.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

They are not in themselves ‘testimony’, equivalent to words spoken or texts written; but when we find them in the Bible, as it were orchestrated by God, they become the equivalent of testimony.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton