seemingly

adverb

seem·​ing·​ly ˈsē-miŋ-lē 

: outwardly or apparently

—used to indicate how something appears or seems

a seemingly simple problem [=a problem that seems simple]

a seemingly endless project [=a project that seems to have no end]

The balance of nature—an ideal state in which every species is in its right place—is seemingly being upended.

—Bryan Walsh

These were years in which seemingly every city authority from Adelaide to Oslo had set its heart on the construction of an unsurpassably iconic building …

—Ellis Woodman

Then, in 1929, taste arbiter Emily Post sanctioned a seemingly irreversible shift in manners: "No rule of etiquette is of less importance than which fork we use."

—Douglas Brenner

Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilized by invisible ropes.

—J. K. Rowling

Synonyms of seemingly

• apparently
• supposedly
• ostensibly
• evidently
• probably
• presumably

Examples of seemingly in a Sentence

a seemingly contented baby who was fast asleep in his crib

Recent Examples on the Web

In a field experiment with hundreds of consultants, GPT-4 improved speed and quality on some knowledge tasks while performance dropped on other, seemingly similar tasks just outside its strengths. —Arkansas Online, 8 Jan. 2026

In it, Oldham costumes up as a shaggy woodland monster, which—after a more nimble inhabitant seemingly swaps into the outfit—proceeds to engage a human in an elaborate dance routine. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 7 Jan. 2026

Both are on a mission, handing out flyers for Luis’ missing daughter, Mar, swallowed by the seemingly endless nomadic rave culture. —Robert Lang, Deadline, 7 Jan. 2026

The coach, who has already developed a workaholic reputation at Penguins headquarters, is always on the move, actively taking a role in seemingly every facet of practice, engaging players in conversation and heading from one room to the next at the UPMC Lemieux practice facility. —Josh Yohe, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined above