[grepLeigh]

A less literal translation like "essentially" or "in essence" is deployed by master Latin translators like Robert Fagles. I've even seen "in a vacuum" which does a better job at communicating the original intent than a string of cryptic prepositions.

[OrangeMusic]

Sometimes I use it (maybe wrongly?) as a synonym to "technically".

"Maybe John is not the boss per se, but we follow his orders"

"Maybe John is not technically the boss, but we follow his orders"