Weariest sort, so to speak (2,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
as it were
'so to speak' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'weariest sort' is the wordplay.
'sort' is an anagram indicator.
'weariest' with letters rearranged gives 'AS IT WERE'.
(Other definitions for as it were that I've seen before include "So to speak" , "As if it was actually so" , "In a manner of speaking" , "In sort of" , "you might say" .)