Meanings
- idiomaticused to indicate a paraphrase or the chance of an error in the details of reported speech.
When he hit his finger with the hammer, he said "ouch" or words to that effect.
2 more examples
they were beyond earshot of the American commander, Capt. James Lawrence, who implored his men: "Don't give up the ship!" (or words to that effect).
2004 August, Doug Stewart, “Shore Thing.”, in Smithsonian, volume 34, number 5, page 90[…]why not cut out the middleman and write the review himself? Then it would say exactly what the client wanted — that it was a terrific book. A shattering novel. A classic memoir. Will change your life. Lyrical and gripping, Stunning and compelling. Or words to that effect.
2012 August 25, David Streitfeld, “The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: OWTTE · Antonyms: in so many words, verbatim
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseused to indicate a paraphrase or the chance of an error in the details of reported speech.
Translations
Arabic أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ
- أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ (ʔaw kamā qāla)used to indicate a paraphrase
Chinese Mandarin 之類的話, 之类的话
- 之類的話used to indicate a paraphrase
- 之类的话 (zhīlèi de huà)used to indicate a paraphrase
- 或諸如此類的話used to indicate a paraphrase
- 或诸如此类的话 (huò zhūrúcǐlèi de huà)used to indicate a paraphrase
Dutch of woorden van die strekking
- of woorden van die strekkingused to indicate a paraphrase
Finnish tai jotakin vastaavaa
- tai jotakin vastaavaaused to indicate a paraphrase
French quelque chose du même genre
- quelque chose du même genreused to indicate a paraphrase
German sinngemäß gesagt
- sinngemäß gesagtused to indicate a paraphrase
Polish coś w tym stylu
- coś w tym styluused to indicate a paraphrase
Portuguese ou algo assim
- ou algo assimused to indicate a paraphrase
Russian и́ли что́-то в э́том ро́де
- и́ли что́-то в э́том ро́де (íli štó-to v étom róde)used to indicate a paraphrase
Cite this entry
or words to that effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/or%20words%20to%20that%20effect
“or words to that effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/or%20words%20to%20that%20effect. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “or words to that effect,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/or%20words%20to%20that%20effect.
Source: or words to that effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.