as it were

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

"But it was very, very moving. It lifted the pressure, a weight off my head, as it were," he says.

From BBC

The Prince of Hong Kong, as it were, albeit for a couple of months.

From Salon

What illusions it offers are, as it were, stage magic.

From Los Angeles Times

"It took me a long time to adapt to normal life, as it were, and all the things that contribute to keeping me in a steady place."

From BBC

But of course, a great deal has flowed between the first spring and the last, as it were.

From Salon