kind of

adverb

Updated on: 4 Dec 2017

Definition of kind of

1 : to a moderate degree : somewhat

it's kind of late to begin

2 : in a way that approximates : more or less

kind of sneaked up on us

See kind of defined for kids

Examples of kind of in a Sentence

those sheets are kind of new, so use something else to cover the floor while painting

Recent Examples of kind of from the Web

Some hurricanes wreak a creative kind of destruction.

— The Economist, "BagehotThe Palace of Pestminster faces up to accusations of sexual predation," 4 Nov. 2017
For that kind of film to succeed, good reviews are not enough, especially with so many high-quality dramas on television.

— daniel arkin, NBC News, "‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Could Help Rescue a Tepid Year at the Box Office," 4 Nov. 2017
For Carol Clark, who co-chaired the fair this year with her son, Matt, the church's success is due in large part to offering a variety of vendors with different kinds of items to purchase.

— annie gentile, Courant Community, "New England Country Fair: An Annual Tradition," 3 Nov. 2017
In our culture, church has become a kind of social coffee hour.

— judy stone, San Francisco Chronicle, "The intuitive satirist, Judy Stone, 1964," 3 Nov. 2017
October was a let's-stay-inside-and-cook-all-day kind of month for our readers.

— bon appétit, Bon Appetit, "The 10 Most Popular Recipes in October," 31 Oct. 2017
But there are a few major roadblocks to any kind of activist movement arising among the recovery community today.

— zachary siegel, Slate Magazine, "Where Are the Opioid Recovery Activists?," 29 Oct. 2017
And, of course, social media really encourages this kind of thing.

— brian handwerk, National Geographic, "Love It or Hate It, Halloween Is Going Global," 27 Oct. 2017
The chance that a guest is still going to be in the mindset to make that kind of a purchase [at our flagship store] the next morning?

— meredith carey, Condé Nast Traveler, "All the Crystal You See at New York's Baccarat Hotel Is for Sale," 27 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kind of.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of kind of

1775

kind of Synonyms

Synonyms

enough, kindly [chiefly Southern], fairly, like, moderately, more or less, pretty, quite, rather, relatively, something, somewhat, sort of

Related Words

acceptably, decently, passably, tolerably; little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, vaguely; half, halfway, incompletely, part, partially, partly, partway

Near Antonyms

awfully, beastly, deadly, especially, exceedingly (also exceeding), exceptionally, extremely, frightfully, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, mightily, mortally, particularly, surpassingly, terribly, very; considerably, extensively, significantly, substantially

KIND OF Defined for Kids

kind of

adverb

Definition of kind of for Students

: to a moderate degree : somewhat

It's kind of dark in here.

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See words that rhyme with kind of Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for kind of Spanish Central: Translation of kind of Nglish: Translation of kind of for Spanish speakers

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