in a manner of speaking

1. In a way; so to speak. For example, He was, in a manner of speaking, asked to leave the group. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Although they’re scattered now, their lodgings temporary and their futures uncertain, they wanted to keep the neighborhood together, in a manner of speaking.

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And, in a manner of speaking, the government has collapsed.

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“I think my captors fear my meager magic, dear. Iron dries out one’s magical wellspring, in a manner of speaking. By forcing me to wear these boots, they have made me quite powerless.”

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“She does and she doesn’t. To royalty, all the rest of the world are rodents in a manner of speaking. As for her lady-in-waiting, Lady Augusta Drear, she is mortally afraid of mice. And so I must exercise all my tact as I go about my duties.”

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Except that, in the next month, the Rosetta Stone is returning home — in a manner of speaking.

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