言(い)わば

いわば

adverb

so to speak, as it were

1. so to speak, as it were

Used to introduce an analogy or figurative expression.

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.

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

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

This book is, as it were, my dictionary.

2. in a manner of speaking

Indicating that a phrase is not meant literally.

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

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.

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

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.

Related Words

Compare: いわゆる (so-called)

core

Added 2026.1.9 21:30 · Revised 2026.9.2 12:02

01500/01914_iwaba