as if
/ˌæz‿ˈɪf/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.29 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
conj
In mimicry of.
conj
Indicating something that the speaker deems very unlikely, or is adamant that he or she would not do (see also interjection sense below).
Example Sentences
- "The old man stumbled, as if he were about to fall."
- "It looks as if it's going to rain."
- "She jumped all of a sudden, as if stung."
- "I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow — a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, […]"
- "“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes."
- "Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all."
Etymology
From Middle English as ȝif, alls iff (“as if”), from Old English *ealswā ġif, attested only as swā ġif (“as if”), equivalent to as + if. Compare Saterland Frisian as of (“as if”), Dutch alsof (“as if”), Low German as of (“as if”), German als ob (“as if”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: as ȝif, *ealswā ġif
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌæz‿ˈɪf/
- British English: /ˌæz‿ˈɪf/