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 of supposedly

• apparently
• seemingly
• ostensibly
• evidently
• presumably
• probably

Examples of supposedly in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

The items’ return is supposedly a result of a recent meeting between the US-Chinese heads of state in Beijing. — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 17 Sep. 2026

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, however, has spent the past decade demolishing nearly every institution that supposedly kept the party strong. — Andrew Mertha, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026

Emma was supposedly deeply troubled over this scandalous activity at their home, and moved out. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026

Well, there was maybe one player, Ethan Johnson, that supposedly went against the grain and ended up at South Carolina. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for supposedly

• composedly