Sweatier pants, so to speak (2,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
as it were
'so to speak' is the definition.
('as it were' can be a synonym of 'so to speak')
'sweatier pants' is the wordplay.
'pants' indicates anagramming the letters (UK informal term for 'nonsense' or 'rubbish').
'sweatier' is an anagram of 'AS IT WERE'.
(Other definitions for as it were that I've seen before include "In a manner of speaking" , "you may say" , "Just like if really so" , "As if it was actually so" , "So to speak" .)