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somehow

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From some +‎ how.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈsʌmhaʊ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊ

Adverb

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somehow (not comparable)

  1. In one way or another; in a way not yet known or explained; by some means
    This problem has to be tackled somehow.
    We don't know how he's still alive after the accident, but somehow he is.
    • December 1, 2016, Tom Donaghy writing in The New York Times, Tender Side of Edward Albee
      It’s not by accident Edward wrote “The Goat,” “The Zoo Story” or “Seascape,” with its two lizards, Sarah and Leslie. In fact, in all of his plays the animal is pretty prominent, somehow or other.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
    • 1895, William Dean Howells, Mortality:
      Have I not loathed to live again and said
      It would have been far better to be dead,
      And yet somehow, I know not why,
      Remained afraid to die!
    • 1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy‎[1]:
      Although youngest of the family, he has somehow or other got the entire management of all the others.

Usage notes

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The indefiniteness of somehow is emphasized by the addition of or other, or another or or the other.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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