Definition of "sort of"
sort of
adverb
not comparable
(idiomatic, colloquial) Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat.
Quotations
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.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
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.
2023 April 5, RAIL, number 980