somewhat
Syllables: some·whatUK/ˈsʌmwɒt//ˈsʌmwʌt/
somewhat adverb: to a limited extent or degree; not completely.
Adverb
somewhat (not comparable)
- To a limited extent or degree; not completely.
- The crowd was somewhat larger than expected, perhaps due to the good weather.
- The decision to shave or not is a somewhat personal one.
- Synonyms:
- a bit, a touch, only just, acceptably, adequately, averagely, fairly, halfway, in a way, indifferent
- Antonyms:
- absolutely, quite, wholly, totally, all-out, tout à fait, all the way, stone-cold, blind, altogether
- Very.
- That hat seems somewhat small for him.
- Two of the coaches are still on the site of the line; one, a first class observation coach carrying the S.R. number 6991, is at Snapper Halt, where it still stands, in fair condition but somewhat weatherbeaten […]1942 September and October, “Notes and News: Lynton & Barnstaple Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 309
- Synonyms:
- a bit, absolutely, ever so, quite, above a bit, sorely, widely, horribly, horrendously, bone
- Antonyms:
- a touch, only just, scarcely, a bit, a little, a little bit, a mite, a smidgen, a smidgeon, a tad
Pronoun
somewhat
- Something.
- Proceeding to the midst he stil did stand,
As if in minde he somewhat had to say […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - a. 1716, Robert Trail, sermon on the Lord's Prayer
But this text and theme I am upon, relates to somewhat far higher and greater, than all the beholdings of his glory that ever any saint on earth received.
- Proceeding to the midst he stil did stand,
Noun
somewhat (countable and uncountable, plural somewhats)
- A certain quantity or degree; a part, more or less; something.
- Somewhat of his good sense will suffer, in this transfusion, and much of the beauty of his thoughts will be lost.1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- To these ladies a man often recommends himself while he is commending another woman; and, while he is expressing ardour and generous sentiments for his mistress, they are considering what a charming lover this man would make to them, who can feel all this tenderness for an inferior degree of merit....1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
- A person or thing of importance; a somebody.
- Pity that the researchful notary has not either told us in what century, and of what history, he was a writer, or been simply content to depose, that Lollius, if a writer of that name existed at all, was a somewhat somewhere.c. 1810-1820, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Troilus and Cressida
- Am I to blame for this, / That here come those that worship me? Ha! ha! / They think that I am somewhat. What am I?1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 59
somewhat meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
somewhat in Hindi
- somewhat, a bit, a little
- कुछ kuch
somewhat in Tamil
- ஓரளவு
somewhat in Urdu
- کسی قدر, کچھ, کچھ کچھ, قدر قلیل
somewhat in Bengali
- কিছুটা, কতক, কিছু, একরকম, কিয়ৎ, কতক কতক
More languagesFewer languages
- somewhat in Malayalam
- ഒട്ടൊക്കെ oṭṭokke, ഏറെക്കുറെ ēṟekkuṟe, ഏതാണ്ട് ētāṇṭŭ
- somewhat in Kannada
- ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಮಾತ್ರ, ಕೊಂಚಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ, ಒಂದಷ್ಟು, ತಕ್ಕಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ
- somewhat in Gujarati
- નરમ naram
- somewhat in Nepali
- अलि ali
- somewhat in Persian
- تا حدی tâ hadd-i
- somewhat in Vietnamese
- hơi
Examples of somewhat in a sentence
- The searing heat cooled somewhat as the sun set in the evening.
- I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
- its taste, which is plainly acid, and somewhat rough1682, Nehemiah Grew, The Anatomy of Plants. […], [London]: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, published 1682, →OCLC:
- Mr Jones had somewhat about him, which, though I think writers are not thoroughly agreed in its name, doth certainly inhabit some human breasts […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- Somewhat he knoweth of art magical, yet useth not that art; for it sappeth the life and strength, nor is it held worthy that a Demon should put trust in that art, but rather in his own might and main.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 6:
Synonyms of somewhat
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- absolutely
- quite
- wholly
- totally
- all-out
- tout à fait
- all the way
- stone-cold
- blind
- altogether
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of somewhat
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | summat |
| Noun | |
| plural | somewhats |
Origin of somewhat
From some + what.
Words formed from somewhat
Questions about somewhat
- What does somewhat mean?
- Somewhat means to a limited extent or degree; not completely.
- What is somewhat in Hindi?
- Somewhat in Hindi is कुछ (kuch). See Somewhat meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use somewhat in a sentence?
- The searing heat cooled somewhat as the sun set in the evening.
- What part of speech is somewhat?
- Somewhat can be an adverb, a pronoun or a noun.
- How do you pronounce somewhat?
- Somewhat is pronounced /ˈsʌmwɒt/ (UK).
Words near somewhat in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: somewhat (page history and authors); कुछ (Hindi) (page history and authors); somewhat (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); somewhat (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); somewhat (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ഏതാണ്ട് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); somewhat (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); નરમ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); अलि (Nepali) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-somewhat.ogg.
Cite this entry: “somewhat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/somewhat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.