as it were

as it were

A qualifier typically used in spoken English to emphasize that something is not exactly as it is being described. I practically work at home, as it were—the office is within walking distance of my house. She's kind of my girlfriend, as it were, but we're not official or anything.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

as it were

as one might say; as could be said. (Sometimes used to qualify an assertion that may not sound reasonable.) He carefully constructed, as it were, a huge submarine sandwich. The Franklins live in a small and, as it were, exquisite house.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

as it were

Seemingly, in a way, as in He was living in a dream world, as it were. A shortening of "as if it were so," this idiom has been in use since Chaucer's time (he had it in his Nun's Priest's Tale, c. 1386). Also see so to speak.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

as it were

in a way (used to be less precise).
1991 Atlantic Jazz audiences permit older musicians to go on suiting up, as it were, until they drop.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

as it were

In a manner of speaking; as if such were so.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • any fool can/could...
  • any fool could (do something)
  • no fox given
  • boom goes the dynamite
  • dynamite
  • (my) right hand to God
  • something else again
  • (and) not before time!
  • something else entirely
  • AIIC