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

With that said, 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 can't hold the world to ransom, as it were.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

The game, as it were, is to get Malcolm to the party.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 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

Even his conversation was, as it were, a spoken part It would end according to the script.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White