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

But the “news hook,” as it were, is the “Winning Works” program of the city’s Joffrey troupe and a program that encourages the creation of new work from underrepresented constituencies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 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

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

There Pippin, staring uneasily about him, saw that he was in a wide vaulted chamber, draped as it were with the great shadows that the little lantern threw upon its shrouded walls.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien