outwardly

adverb

out·​ward·​ly ˈau̇t-wərd-lē 

1

a

: on the outside : externally

b

: toward the outside

2

: in outward state, behavior, or appearance

was outwardly friendly

Examples of outwardly in a Sentence

The two brothers may be outwardly similar, but their personalities couldn't be more different.

Though extremely nervous, she was able to remain outwardly calm during the interview.

Outwardly, their marriage seemed quite normal.

Recent Examples on the Web

While outwardly similar to the baseline J-20, subtle modifications hint at significant improvements. —Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025

Despite that, de Moraes has remained outwardly unfazed. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025

Mofakham and her team recorded videos of 37 patients with recent brain injuries who outwardly appeared to be in a coma. —Andrew Chapman, Scientific American, 31 Aug. 2025

While the impact of digital twins may not be outwardly visible to consumers in the same way, say, Walmart’s Sparky agent is, its effects will be real. —Rachel Curry, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

outwardly

adverb

out·​ward·​ly ˈau̇t-wərd-lē 

: on the outside : in outward appearance

outwardly calm