in principle
in theory *
in essence *

In principle, I could have told him to go and take a walk outside.

What they are doing should be simple, certainly in principle.

At 11 the next morning, we had a deal in principle.

In principle, I like the idea of such a book and have thought about doing one myself.

In principle, as things look at the moment, we will be able to vote for his report.

In principle the Union must be able to take military action on its own.

A small game was the same as a big one in principle, after all, and he did have the first move.

Even this, in principle, seems to be legal under international law.

So can we have a decision in principle whether we're going to do this or not?

Now a foreign company could, in principle, open a hotel on its own.