In the English Vocabulary Profile ‘somewhat’ is listed at C1 as an ADVERB meaning ‘slightly’. It basically means ‘to some degree’.
It can be used to hedge a statement or description. In other words, it can make what you say less forceful, or less definite.
1 SOMEWHAT (DD1) OF
29129
Yes, these interviews are somewhat of a formality, but I think it’s crucial we like-minded people get to know one another.
We could also say:
- Interviews are a bit of a formality
- Interviews are to some degree a formality
2 SOMEWHAT (RR) . (.) 13339
3 SOMEWHAT (RR) MORE (RGR)
12322
I must admit, he was somewhat more charming than others that we‘ve encountered in the past.
4 SOMEWHAT (RR) DIFFERENT (JJ) 12075
5 SOMEWHAT (RR) , (,) 10872
6 SOMEWHAT (RR) SIMILAR (JJ) 10107
7 SOMEWHAT (RR) IN (II) 5686
8 SOMEWHAT (RR) LESS (RGR) 5276
9 SOMEWHAT (RR) DIFFICULT (JJ) 4325
10 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIKE (II_VV0@) 3857
11 SOMEWHAT (RR) BY (II) 3741
12 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIKE (II) 3327
13 SOMEWHAT (RR) HIGHER (JJR) 3107
14 SOMEWHAT (RR) FROM (II) 3078
15 SOMEWHAT (RR) ” (”) 3042
16 SOMEWHAT (RR) ) ()) 2851
17 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIMITED (VVN_JJ) 2778
18 SOMEWHAT (RR) SURPRISING (JJ) 2755
19 SOMEWHAT (RR) LARGER (JJR) 2417
20 SOMEWHAT (RR) ON (II) 2405
21 SOMEWHAT (RR) UNIQUE (JJ) 2150
22 SOMEWHAT (RR) THE (AT) 2105
23 SOMEWHAT (RR) SMALLER (JJR) 2045
24 SOMEWHAT (RR) UNUSUAL (JJ) 2029
25 SOMEWHAT (RR) FAMILIAR (JJ) 1991
26 SOMEWHAT (RR) WITH (IW) 1975
27 SOMEWHAT (RR) BETTER (RRR_JJR) 1931
28 SOMEWHAT (RR) AND (CC) 1920
29 SOMEWHAT (RR) CONTROVERSIAL (JJ) 1857
30 SOMEWHAT (RR) A (AT1) 1780
31 SOMEWHAT (RR) TO (II) 1717
32 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIMITED (VVN) 1650
33 SOMEWHAT (RR) LESS (DAR_RRR) 1602
34 SOMEWHAT (RR) MISLEADING (JJ) 1567
35 SOMEWHAT (RR) SURPRISINGLY (RR) 1561
36 SOMEWHAT (RR) NEW (JJ) 1495
37 SOMEWHAT (RR) DIFFERENTLY (RR) 1491
38 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIKE (II_JJ@) 1487
39 SOMEWHAT (RR) BETTER (JJR) 1427
40 SOMEWHAT (RR) RARE (JJ) 1413
41 SOMEWHAT (RR) LOWER (JJR) 1378
42 SOMEWHAT (RR) TO (TO) 1288
43 SOMEWHAT (RR) ARBITRARY (JJ) 1255
44 SOMEWHAT (RR) OUT (II21) 1231
45 SOMEWHAT (RR) BUT (CCB) 1221
46 SOMEWHAT (RR) IRONIC (JJ) 1141
47 SOMEWHAT (RR) IMPORTANT (JJ) 1088
48 SOMEWHAT (RR) LACKING (VVG) 1086
49 SOMEWHAT (RR) EXPENSIVE (JJ) 1083
50 SOMEWHAT (RR) COMMON (JJ) 1075
51 SOMEWHAT (RR) AT (II) 1071
52 SOMEWHAT (RR) COMPLEX (JJ) 1068
53 SOMEWHAT (RR) REMINISCENT (JJ) 1059
54 SOMEWHAT (RR) MORE (DAR) 1055
55 SOMEWHAT (RR) SURPRISED (JJ_VVD@) 1031
56 SOMEWHAT (RR) CONFUSING (JJ) 1021
57 SOMEWHAT (RR) INTERESTING (JJ) 984
58 SOMEWHAT (RR) CONFUSING (JJ_VVG@) 963
59 SOMEWHAT (RR) ODD (JJ) 945
60 SOMEWHAT (RR) AWKWARD (JJ) 941
61 SOMEWHAT (RR) STRANGE (JJ) 941
62 SOMEWHAT (RR) LOWER (JJR_RRR@) 940
63 SOMEWHAT (RR) AS (CSA) 930
64 SOMEWHAT (RR) VAGUE (JJ) 921
65 SOMEWHAT (RR) NORMAL (JJ) 900
66 SOMEWHAT (RR) LIMITED (JJ_VVN) 879
67 SOMEWHAT (RR) LESS (DAR) 874
68 SOMEWHAT (RR) AKIN (JJ) 853
69 SOMEWHAT (RR) ( (() 845
70 SOMEWHAT (RR) OR (CC) 845
71 SOMEWHAT (RR) GREATER (JJR) 839
72 SOMEWHAT (RR) FOR (IF) 836
73 SOMEWHAT (RR) IRONICALLY (RR) 829
74 SOMEWHAT (RR) EASY (JJ) 824
75 SOMEWHAT (RR) MORE (DAR_RRR) 824
76 SOMEWHAT (RR) FLEXIBLE (JJ) 819
77 SOMEWHAT (RR) LATER (RRR_JJR) 818
78 SOMEWHAT (RR) HARD (JJ) 813
79 SOMEWHAT (RR) EASIER (JJR) 800
80 SOMEWHAT (RR) TRUE (JJ) 800
81 SOMEWHAT (RR) CONCERNED (JJ) 782
82 SOMEWHAT (RR) RELATED (VVN_VVD) 770
83 SOMEWHAT (RR) EFFECTIVE (JJ) 759
84 SOMEWHAT (RR) USEFUL (JJ) 751
85 SOMEWHAT (RR) SMALL (JJ) 741
86 SOMEWHAT (RR) TRICKY (JJ) 737
87 SOMEWHAT (RR) HELPFUL (JJ) 728
88 SOMEWHAT (RR) SUBJECTIVE (JJ) 726
89 SOMEWHAT (RR) MYSTERIOUS (JJ) 724
90 SOMEWHAT (RR) DISAPPOINTING (JJ_VVG@) 717
91 SOMEWHAT (RR) SKEPTICAL (JJ) 712
92 SOMEWHAT (RR) UNCOMFORTABLE (JJ) 708
93 SOMEWHAT (RR) AMBIGUOUS (JJ) 693
94 SOMEWHAT (RR) RANDOM (JJ) 690
95 SOMEWHAT (RR) EASIER (RRR_JJR) 688
96 SOMEWHAT (RR) OVER (II_RP) 685
97 SOMEWHAT (RR) SLOW (JJ) 674
98 SOMEWHAT (RR) PREDICTABLE (JJ) 673
99 SOMEWHAT (RR) SHORTER (JJR) 662
100 SOMEWHAT (RR) AGREE (VV0) 657
Corpus notes:
By looking at how the iWeb corpus tags, when ‘somewhat’ is followed by the word ‘of’ then it is tagged as a singular determiner (DD1). In all other cases, it is a general adverb (RR).