sort of
See also: sort-of
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From a reanalysis of "sort of" in a phrase such as "a sort of merry dance" from noun ("sort") and preposition ("of") from the prepositional phrase "of merry dance" to adverb modifying "merry".
Pronunciation edit
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈsɔɹt əv/, [ˈsɔɹɾəv]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɔːt əv/, [ˈsɔːt əv], [ˈsɔːʔ əv], [ˈsətəv]
Audio (AU) (file)
Adverb edit
sort of (not comparable)
- (idiomatic, colloquial) Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat.
- It sort of makes sense the way he explains it, but I still don't really understand.
- 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post[1]:
- "Why—why, we sort of expected he'd be here!" says she.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’
- 2023 April 5, RAIL, number 980:
- Anne Shaw tells Peter Plisner, "West Midlands Metro metamorphosis", page 32:
"It sort of transforms that location," says Shaw.
Pip Dunn, "'196s' giving commuters a smoother ride", page 55:
Messy trains are horrible, but you can sort of understand passengers leaving their sandwich wrappers and paper cups if there is nowhere to dispose of them.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
in a way etc.
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