The phrase "about as substantial" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to compare the significance or importance of something to another, often implying that it is not very significant.
Example: "The evidence presented was about as substantial as a paperclip in a legal case."
Alternatives: "roughly equivalent in importance" or "comparable in significance".
The New York Times reviewer called the movie "about as substantial as a weather report".
It all feels about as substantial as the swirling smoke it uses so abundantly.
The city is New York, the year is 1962, and the story line is about as substantial as an anchovy.
Compared with the excalibur Hotel Casino, say, whose King Arthur castle looks about as substantial as a cardboard pop-up, New York-New York looks tangible...
Compared with the excalibur Hotel Casino, say, whose King Arthur castle looks about as substantial as a cardboard pop-up, New York-New York looks tangible..
Better, however, may be the proper enforcement of sanctions in the Gulf states where, for the time being at least, compliance with the UN ban is about as substantial as the smoke issuing from a shisha.
(The difference in median fund-raising totals, which reduces the influence of outliers, is just as substantial: about $3 million for the establishment candidates versus about $400,000 for the insurgents).
Comparing other non-photosynthetic plastid genomes with photosynthetic relatives reveals that the reduction and compaction of Epifagus virginiana and Euglena longa are not as substantial (about a 2-fold reduction in size).
Dangerous enough, apparently, that at the extremely vitriolic AAA business meeting in November of 2015, the resolution passed by a landslide, 1040-136 - suggesting, I'd argue, not widespread support for the resolution so much as substantial fear about publicly opposing it.
Until recently, I hadn't even experienced something as substantial as a thought about those dainty sheathes.
(For homeowners, however, the savings will not be as substantial, partly because panels account for only about 60percentt of total installation costs).
