言(い)わば

いわば

adverb

so to speak, as it were, in a manner of speaking

1. so to speak, as it were, in a manner of speaking

Introduces a figurative label or analogy, signalling that the description is not meant literally.

He is, so to speak, a genius.

This is, as it were, a revolution.

言(い)わば運命(うんめい)のようなものだ。

It's something like fate, so to speak.

これは言(い)わば第二(だいに)の故郷(ふるさと)だ。

This is, so to speak, my second home.

It was, in a manner of speaking, a turning point in life.

She is, as it were, the mother of the team.

言(い)わば実験(じっけん)のようなものだ。

It's something like an experiment, in a manner of speaking.

This place is, so to speak, a sacred ground.

It was, in a manner of speaking, a miraculous event.

This book is, as it were, my dictionary.

That was, in a manner of speaking, the last chance.

One could say he was, in a manner of speaking, a victim of the times.

言(い)わば introduces figurative or analogical expressions.

いわゆる: "so-called"; introduces a label other people already use, while 言(い)わば introduces the speaker's own metaphor: いわゆる天才(てんさい) (what people call a genius) vs 言(い)わば天才(てんさい) (a genius, so to speak).

Related Words

Compare: いわゆる (so-called)

core

Added 2026.1.9 21:30 · Revised 2026.10.2 21:49

01500/01914_iwaba