English

Adverb

somehow ‎(not comparable)

1. In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
   • (Can we date this quote?) George Cheyne

     By their action upon one another they may be swelled somehow, so as to shorten the length.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Walter Scott

     Although youngest of the familly, he has somehow or other got the entire management of all the others.

   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterII:

     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.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• somewise
• someway

Translations