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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

sorta en · ADV

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈsɔɹtə/ (General-American)
  • [-ɾə] (General-American)
  • /ˈsɔːtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

A written form of a reduction of sort of.

Meanings

  1. (abbreviation, alt-of, contraction, informal, not-comparable) Contraction of sort of.
    alt of sort of
    • The portraits on the wall aren’t that good, but they’re just sorta cool to have around.
    • 'Webb,' he says sorta sorrowful like, 'it looks like a howlin' shame to have a bang-up American girl hooked up to a money-grubbin' member of the British nobility. It don't in no way fit in with my ideas of the speerut of American independence!' 1912 September, Charles Alden Seltzer, “Love’s International”, in The Outing Magazine: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, volume LX, number 6, New York, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.: Outing Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 680, column 1:
    • When Tommy's folks heard about it they were angry with him, and with Chuck for using him to play such a mean trick on Vern. In fact the whole thing sorta backfired on old Chuck—and on me and Pete too. Instead of laughing about it, most people thought it was pretty crummy. 1993 July, William R. Scott, “Sort of a Hero”, in Scott Stuckey, editor, Boys’ Life, volume LXXXIII, number 7, Irving, Tex.: Boy Scouts of America, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 34, column 2:

Deriveds

kindasorta · sortakinda · sotalol

Synonyms

sorta kinda · kinda sorta · kinda

sorta en · X

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈsɔɹtə/ (General-American)
  • [-ɾə] (General-American)
  • /ˈsɔːtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

A written form of a reduction of sort of.

Meanings

  1. (contraction, informal) Sort of.
    • There’s gotta be some sorta explanation.
    • He glanced at her then back at me. "What sorta research?" / "Well, war correspondent might not be too far off," I said. 2001, Lawrence A. Wenzel, The Sandcastle at High Tide, page 97:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sortsa Number=Plur lexicographic