for (all) practical purposes

idiom

—used to say that one thing has the same effect or result as something else

His effort to hide the document was, for practical purposes, an admission that he had made a mistake.

During the blizzard, the town was, for all practical purposes, shut down.

Examples of for (all) practical purposes in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While a Heat loss on Wednesday would, for all practical purposes, eliminate Miami’s chances of getting out of the 9-10 play-in, there would be a slim chance to move up to ninth (ahead of Atlanta but behind Chicago). —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2025

Hidary talked about biopharma and chemistry, and the use of carbon dioxide for practical purposes. —John Werner, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin fall somewhere in the middle with medical programs that, for all practical purposes, permit CBD oil only. —Iris Dorbian, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

Meanwhile Hezbollah's constant attacks against Israel following the October 7 Hamas invasion caused Israel to consider terminating the agreements, but for all practical purposes that belligerence mainly brought resource development to a standstill. —Daniel Markind, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025