PUTATIVELY Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

putatively

adverb

as in seemingly

to all outward appearances the lake's putatively pristine water is actually crawling with microorganisms that can wreak havoc with your gastrointestinal system

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of putatively Miller has long been concerned with some of the actions taken after 9/11, putatively in her name, against Muslims in general. — Gloria Pazmino, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026 The eight-story glass building at the center of the complex, which had putatively been devoted to vaccine manufacturing, was in fact a highly classified defense facility. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 25 July 2026 Such agencies are putatively created to provide expert advice to the president on complex issues such as nuclear technology and consumer product safety. — Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, 29 June 2026 But with supposedly or putatively race-neutral methods, for 100 years, the right to vote was denied. — CBS News, 4 May 2026 From the perspective of a world of increasingly unimaginable maldistribution of resources, cascading ecological collapse, a genocide cheered on by a putatively liberal order, both are barbarisms. — Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025 Over the next several years, Leo, through the Judicial Crisis Network, continued to back conservative candidates in Wisconsin, where judicial elections are, putatively, nonpartisan. — Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 11 Oct. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for putatively

Adverb

The on-board algorithms that decide how and when to deploy the car's electrical hybrid power were seemingly thwarted by the drivers using less acceleration than usual to deal with the slippery conditions.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
In Massachusetts and Maine, that approval is also contingent on the federal government finding a long-term solution to the seemingly intractable problem of storing radioactive nuclear waste.

— John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of seemingly

Adverb

There wasn’t a penalty on the play, but the NFL apparently saw something amiss.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Oct. 2026
Commissioner Josh Davidson countered that Pourharton’s figures apparently didn’t include income from his commission on Valero gas sales or on lottery tickets.

— Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of apparently

Adverb

Given Polymarket’s popularity, its prices can feed back into the events its bets supposedly only predict.

— Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Rogers was also aware that Lee, now supposedly an economics professor at a Chinese university, had an unusually intense interest in him.

— Eamon Javers, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of supposedly

Adverb

Pike is in critical condition and receiving life-saving medical care after being injected with two ostensibly fatal doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said Thursday.

— Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
The kettle ostensibly includes a spout through which people are released as molecules are split from their collective bonds.

— Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of ostensibly

Adverb

Of course, there are also age-old hustles so evidently dishonest that there was a time when their exponents risked being hung or shot.

— Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
He was called up by Zidane to this squad but remains uncapped at senior level and is evidently behind Jacquet in the coach’s thoughts, having been regarded as the outstanding young defender on the market two years ago.

— Oliver Kay, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of evidently

Adverb

These messages, presumably written by students, are arguably reductive in their analysis.

— Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2026
Her former research partner has absconded with her life’s work, presumably to put toward greedy human means of Manifest Destiny.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of presumably

Adverb

Brower and Simone learned that pigeons were a common source of food for people thousands of years ago and used the sun, and probably the earth's magnetic field, for navigation.

— KYLE MELNICK THE WASHINGTON POST, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
Jack Wolf Westwood Lincoln Riley talks a big game about excelling in the Big Ten, but in losing badly to Oregon and its backup quarterback, USC probably couldn’t win the Pac-12 this year.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of probably

Adverb

While those companies are not named in the Boulder case, they are named as defendants in similar climate lawsuits filed across the country, suits that very likely would be affected by the high court’s ruling.

— Callie Patteson, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026
Powers also has an employment contract that likely affords him protection and the chance to contest accusations before he is terminated for cause.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of likely

Browse Nearby Words

putative

putatively

put away

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“Putatively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/putatively. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of putatively

adverb

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