What does "kind of thought" mean? Does "kind of" mean something?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Kinda (kind of)" means slightly, rather, to an extent, or somewhat. Here, Billie Eilish is saying that to an extent, she thought they (people) would care. "Kinda" is used here to show that while she did not have a strong belief, she did have somewhat low expectations. We can use "kind of" in other contexts as well. Ex: This shirt is kind of cool. (This shirt is somewhat cool.) Ex: I kinda dislike hamburgers. (I slightly dislike hamburgers.)