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

Why should an investor receive less interest on a 30-year bond, exposed to many forms of risk over a very long period, than on a 90-day Treasury bill which for all practical purposes carries no risk whatsoever? —George Calhoun, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025

The problem is that the obligations of public benefit corporations are, for all practical purposes, unenforceable. —Kelsey Piper, Vox, 25 Apr. 2025

In contrast, for all practical purposes, barely any COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the African continent or in low- or middle-income countries in Asia and Latin America. —Peter J. Hotez, Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2021

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