as it were
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as it were
Where it comes from
From Middle English as it were, as hyt were, als it were, als hit were, from Old English *ealswā hit wǣre, attested only as swā hit wǣre and swylċe hit wǣre (“as it were”, literally “as it would be”).
Compare Dutch als het ware.
adverb
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see as, it, were.
-
Used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not exact though practically right; as if it were so.
With so much construction and renovation going on all around him, he was more or less living in a new city now, as it were. [His city is not newly founded, and it has been neither renamed nor moved, but in some practical way it is true that he does not live in the same city that he used to live in.]
Similar: if you will, in a manner of speaking, so to speak
-
Used to draw attention to the use of a metaphor, sometimes to prevent confusion or to highlight wordplay.
She gave all of the women seated at the restaurant food for thought, as it were.
Similar: figuratively, if you will, metaphorically, so to speak
Translations
Every language
adv to indicate a word or statement is not exact
| Español | por así decirlo, por decirlo así |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 可說 /可说 kěshuō, 好像 hǎoxiàng |
| Português | por assim dizer, digamos assim |
| Français | pour ainsi dire |
| Deutsch | gewissermaßen, gleichsam, sozusagen |
| Русский | так сказа́ть tak skazátʹ |
Talk about this word "as it were." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/as%20it%20were. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. as it were. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/as%20it%20were "as it were." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/as%20it%20were.Cite this
@misc{as_it_were_2026,
title = {as it were},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/as%20it%20were},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
