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

The legend of The Legend of Zelda, as it were.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

To donate albums and other collectibles, think outside the boxes, as it were.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The story, as it were, centers on a woman named Lisa Blupey, portrayed by stage veteran Jessica Vosk, who runs a small business selling socks but is drowning in financial statements and malfunctioning A.I.-powered platforms.

From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026

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

But because ambition succeeds best when disguised by virtue, he wanted to furnish the Alliance with an animating ideology—a manifest destiny, as it were, or mission civilisatrice.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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