even so
adv1
In spite of that (preceding a remark (or fact) within a given discourse).
- The colors are a bit bright. Even so, I love this room's design.
- "Why not? What's wrong with rabbits? Are they any worse than a neurotic, revolutionary humanity, full of nervous hate?" "But we're not rabbits, even so," said Hammond.1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 4, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Gutenberg edition, [Florence, Italy]: [ […] Tipografia Giuntina, […]], →OCLC; republished as Lady Chatterley’s Lover (eBook no. 0100181h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, August 2011, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2020:
2 more examples
- [T]he American Airlines pilots union softened its stand and offered to accept lower wages for flying smaller "regional jets." Even so, airline management rejected the offer.1997 February 13, Scot Woods, “The Not-So Friendly Skies”, in Time, retrieved 27 Oct 2015:
- But reform legislation enacted in 2010 . . . created a system of subsidies to help families pay for coverage. Even so, insurance doesn’t come cheap.2009 December 25, Paul Krugman, “Tidings of Comfort”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Oct 2015:
2
Archaic Exactly thus: in exactly such a manner (as said or surmised); of precisely such a nature; precisely so.
- Near-synonym: just so
- —You don't mean to tell me that you're the very man whom they've been seeking? —Even so. 'Tis I.
4 more examples
- Pistol: Trail'st thou the puissant pike? King Henry V: Even so. What are you?1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- "I am thankful that […] no syllable of rude verse has ever profaned my lips." "You have, then, limited your efforts to sacred song?" "Even so. As the psalms of David exceed all other language, so does the psalmody that has been fitted to them by the divines and sages of the land, surpass all vain poetry. Happily, I may say, that I utter nothing but the thoughts and the wishes of the King of Israel himself […]"1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter 2, in The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page 25:
- "Hester! Hester Prynne!", said he; "is it thou? Art thou in life?" "Even so," she answered.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 17, in The Scarlet Letter:
- He may be thought inconsistent, and even so he is.1857, Herman Melville, chapter 14, in The Confidence Man: