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.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

as it were

Storrie’s “SNL” nomination is the voters’ way of signaling they’re down to come to the cottage, as it were.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

"It's nice to know that the connectivity to the home country, as it were, is there."

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

And whatever their failures are, that ends up being their ruling attribute to their poker game, as it were.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026

Wells’s “Outline of History” was an attempt to wrap the whole world, as it were, in a single volume.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

On studying the young gentleman closely, one could, as it were, appreciate the difficulty experienced by his lordship - and indeed, by the young gentleman's father.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro