kind of

Idioms  

1. Also, sort of. Rather, somewhat, as in I'm kind of hungry, or The bird looked sort of like a sparrow. [Colloquial; c. 1800] This usage should not be confused with a kind of or a sort of, which are much older and refer to a borderline member of a given category (as in a kind of a shelter or a sort of a bluish color). Shakespeare had this usage in Two Gentlemen of Verona (3:1): “My master is a kind of a knave.” Also see of a kind.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kind of

“I’m not coming at this like some kind of social dilettante billionaire who thinks he’s God’s gift,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

“It kind of control-alt-deleted me and put me in a really good place,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

“That interrupts your experience, and it kind of takes you out of the moment,” said Emily Kennedy, a vice president of business development at a music agency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Some of his team's problems are inherited, but the new manager has not built any kind of tactical coherence in the opening weeks of the campaign.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Even though we were now free, and life was returning to some kind of normality, this was the worst time of all for me because Peter’s letters just stopped coming.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Related Words

• rather