Word.ws English Dictionary

in a manner of speaking

in a manner of speaking prepositional phrase: as it were; figuratively speaking; in a manner, in a way, in a certain respect.

Prepositional phrase

  1. As it were; figuratively speaking; in a manner, in a way, in a certain respect.
    • "Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, ". . . Why, there you all are together like a happy family, in a manner of speaking."1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 20, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC
    • No doubt it maddened him; it knocked him over afresh—in a manner of speaking— [...]1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter IX, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 109
    Synonyms:
    so to speak

Examples of in a manner of speaking in a sentence

  • [H]e is—in a manner of speaking—in eclipse as it were, sir!"1913, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 28, in The Amateur Gentleman:
  • Because in a manner of speaking I am sentimental about my childhood—not my own particular childhood, but the civilization which I grew up in and which is now, I suppose, just about at its last kick.1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air:

Synonyms of in a manner of speaking

Origin of in a manner of speaking

From in + an alteration of Middle English a maner of speche (“a manner of literary style”).

Questions about in a manner of speaking

What does in a manner of speaking mean?
In a manner of speaking means as it were; figuratively speaking; in a manner, in a way, in a certain respect.
How do you use in a manner of speaking in a sentence?
[H]e is—in a manner of speaking—in eclipse as it were, sir!"
What part of speech is in a manner of speaking?
In a manner of speaking is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in a manner of speaking in the dictionary

  1. in a lather
  2. in a league of one's own
  3. in a little while
  4. in a major key
  5. in a manner
  6. in a manner of speaking
  7. in a measure
  8. in a mess
  9. in a minor key
  10. in a minute
  11. in a New York second

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in a manner of speaking (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “in a manner of speaking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_a_manner_of_speaking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.