Word.ws English Dictionary

in a sense

in a sense prepositional phrase: in one sense or interpretation, but not in all ways.

Prepositional phrase

  1. In one sense or interpretation, but not in all ways.
    • A large part of duty-doing is drudgery. There is drudgery in every department of life's workdrudgery that is indispensable to success in that work. […] But there is such a thing as ennobling drudgery, as making and counting it an essential part of that which is noble and–in a sense–divine.1889, H[enry] Clay Trumbull, “Making Drudgery Divine”, in Duty-knowing and Duty-doing, Philadelphia, Pa.: John D. Wattles, →OCLC, page 133
    • In a sense, the editorial cartoons were correct when they suggested that an exaltation of larks can fly under the influence into an aspect of vulturous behavior.1989, Ronald K. Siegel, Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances, Park Street Press, published 2009, →ISBN, page 192

Examples of in a sense in a sentence

  • In a sense, Superman's romance with Lois Lane was a subplot and [...]2001, Dennis O'Neil, The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics:
  • This is not a historical novel yet it is in a sense historical and contained within this book is a true story of how America was financed.2011, Thomas W. Dombroski, How America Was Financed, page xi:

Synonyms of in a sense

Forms of in a sense

alternative formin one sense

Questions about in a sense

What does in a sense mean?
In a sense means in one sense or interpretation, but not in all ways.
How do you use in a sense in a sentence?
In a sense, Superman's romance with Lois Lane was a subplot and [...]
What part of speech is in a sense?
In a sense is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in a sense in the dictionary

  1. in a real state
  2. in a right state
  3. in a row
  4. in a rut
  5. in a sea-way
  6. in a sense
  7. in a similar vein
  8. in a snap
  9. in a spin
  10. in a state
  11. in a stew

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in a sense (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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