sort of

See also: sort-of

English

Alternative forms

• sorta
• sort-of

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹt əv/, [ˈsɔɹɾəv]
• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔːt əv/, [ˈsɔːt əv], [ˈsɔːʔ əv], [ˈsətəv]

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adverb

sort of (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, colloquial)  Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     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^[1]:

     ‘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. […]’

   It sort of makes sense the way he explains it, but I still don't really understand.

Synonyms

• kind of

Translations

in a way etc.

• Finnish: jollain tapaa, jotenkuten, tavallaan (fi)
• French: en quelque sorte (fr), partiellement (fr), plus ou moins (fr)
• Galician: algo así
• German: irgendwie (de)
• Hebrew: בְּעֵרֶךְ (be'érech)
• Irish: cineál
• Portuguese: mais ou menos (pt), aproximadamente (pt), de certa forma
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: не́что вро́де (néčto vróde), так сказа́ть (tak skazátʹ), не совсем (ne sovsem)
• Scottish Gaelic: nàdar de
• Serbo-Croatian: nekako (sh), na neki način
• Slovene: na nek način
• Spanish: parece que, en cierto sentido, de alguna forma, aproximadamente (es), en aproximación, de alguna manera, más o menos (es)
• Swedish: typ (sv)

See also

• of sorts

Anagrams

• froots