kind of

adverb

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

Synonyms

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

Examples of kind of in a Sentence

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

Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

kind of

adverb

ˌkīn-də(v)

: to a moderate degree : somewhat

itʼs kind of cold in here

he kind of likes me