supposedly

adverb

sup·​pos·​ed·​ly sə-ˈpō-zəd-lē 

 also  -ˈpōzd-lē

: as is supposed : according to what is or was said, claimed, or believed by some

a supposedly true story

a supposedly good restaurant

He had dozens of people around him, supposedly looking after him …

—Philip Norman

Daddy took me to the Legion, to shoot pool supposedly.

—Mary Karr

Synonyms

• apparently
• evidently
• ostensibly
• ostensively
• presumably
• putatively
• seemingly

Examples of supposedly in a Sentence

she's supposedly too sick to come—or so she says

Recent Examples on the Web

Nevertheless, she’s missed the connection slated to take her farther west, over the mountains to a place called Crooks Springs, where her husband is supposedly living, but possibly not waiting. —Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025

This 21-feet-high wire mesh art installation has an eerie vibe, reflecting the hundreds-year-old legend of a ghost schooner that’s supposedly been seen floating in the strait separating Nova Scotia from Prince Edward Island. —Jeanine Barone, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025

Firing Daboll would have ripped down the supposedly collaborative curtain behind the Wizard of Oz. —Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 9 Jan. 2025

But supposedly, 99% of their government services are online, including procedures for setting up a business and filing all their taxes. —Lauren Goode, WIRED, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above