sort of

• sorta, sort-of

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".

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

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

sort of (not comparable)

1. (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:

     "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.

• kind of

• of sorts

• froots