See sort of in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for sort of meaning in English (5.1kB)
{
"etymology_text": "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\".",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "sort of (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English positive polarity items",
"parents": [
"Positive polarity items",
"Terms by semantic function"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "It sort of makes sense the way he explains it, but I still don't really understand.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post",
"text": "\"Why—why, we sort of expected he'd be here!\" says she.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 April 5, RAIL, number 980",
"text": "Anne Shaw tells Peter Plisner, \"West Midlands Metro metamorphosis\", page 32:\n\"It sort of transforms that location,\" says Shaw.\nPip Dunn, \"'196s' giving commuters a smoother ride\", page 55:\nMessy 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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat."
],
"id": "en-sort_of-en-adv-nbaU2VOc",
"links": [
[
"Approximately",
"approximately"
],
[
"in a way",
"in a way"
],
[
"partially",
"partially"
],
[
"not quite",
"not quite"
],
[
"somewhat",
"somewhat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, colloquial) Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "of sorts"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "kind of"
},
{
"word": "sorta"
},
{
"word": "sort-of"
}
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jollain tapaa"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jotenkuten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "tavallaan"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "en quelque sorte"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "partiellement"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "plus ou moins"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "algo así"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "irgendwie"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "be'érech",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "בְּעֵרֶךְ"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "cineál"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jakiś"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "mais ou menos"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "aproximadamente"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de certa forma"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "néčto vróde",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "не́что вро́де"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tak skazátʹ",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "так сказа́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ne sovsem",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "не совсем"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "nàdar de"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "nekako"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "na neki način"
},
{
"code": "sl",
"lang": "Slovene",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "na nek način"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "algo así"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "en cierto sentido"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de alguna forma"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de cierta manera"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "más o menos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "typ"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔɹt əv/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔɹɾəv]",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔːt əv/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔːt əv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔːʔ əv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsətəv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-sort of.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/En-au-sort_of.ogg/En-au-sort_of.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/En-au-sort_of.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "sort of"
}
{
"etymology_text": "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\".",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "sort of (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"related": [
{
"word": "of sorts"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English adverbs",
"English colloquialisms",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English positive polarity items",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English uncomparable adverbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "It sort of makes sense the way he explains it, but I still don't really understand.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post",
"text": "\"Why—why, we sort of expected he'd be here!\" says she.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 April 5, RAIL, number 980",
"text": "Anne Shaw tells Peter Plisner, \"West Midlands Metro metamorphosis\", page 32:\n\"It sort of transforms that location,\" says Shaw.\nPip Dunn, \"'196s' giving commuters a smoother ride\", page 55:\nMessy 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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat."
],
"links": [
[
"Approximately",
"approximately"
],
[
"in a way",
"in a way"
],
[
"partially",
"partially"
],
[
"not quite",
"not quite"
],
[
"somewhat",
"somewhat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, colloquial) Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔɹt əv/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔɹɾəv]",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔːt əv/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔːt əv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsɔːʔ əv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈsətəv]",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-sort of.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/En-au-sort_of.ogg/En-au-sort_of.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/En-au-sort_of.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "kind of"
},
{
"word": "sorta"
},
{
"word": "sort-of"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jollain tapaa"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jotenkuten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "tavallaan"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "en quelque sorte"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "partiellement"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "plus ou moins"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "algo así"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "irgendwie"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "be'érech",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "בְּעֵרֶךְ"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "cineál"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "jakiś"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "mais ou menos"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "aproximadamente"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de certa forma"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "néčto vróde",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "не́что вро́де"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tak skazátʹ",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "так сказа́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ne sovsem",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "не совсем"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "nàdar de"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "nekako"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "na neki način"
},
{
"code": "sl",
"lang": "Slovene",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "na nek način"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "algo así"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "en cierto sentido"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de alguna forma"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "de cierta manera"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "más o menos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a way etc.",
"word": "typ"
}
],
"word": "sort of"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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