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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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
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
Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for putatively
Adverb
-
By the second week of April, the musician had seemingly recovered and arrived in Atlanta on April 14 for a performance at the Fox Theatre.—
Alex Gurley,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The Bucs’ seemingly endless quest for an edge rusher continues.—
Rick Stroud,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Only one cardinal survived—smells like a snitch—and Urban was apparently disappointed by how little the other captive cardinals had screamed.—
Jane Bua,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
The Lakers were connected, apparently having had time to adjust to the loss of their two leading scorers, LeBron James acting as a brilliant playmaker for scorching hot shooters like Kennard, who hit all five of his treys in scoring a career playoff-high 27 points.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
The Renaissance master, whose name is only ever sighed in the same breath as Leonardo and Michelangelo, supposedly traded truth for beauty, and ended up destroying both.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Then, in Florida, a brawl broke out between the crews of Lil Tjay and Offset, supposedly over a gambling debt, which ended with Offset hospitalized with a bullet wound and Tjay doing a surreal post-jail interview that felt like a Real Housewives confessional.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
16 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
For a play ostensibly about the huge broken thing that is America’s prison-industrial complex, The Fear of 13 spends little time thinking about larger systems, or even raging against the machine.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The beasts were, ostensibly, running a menacing communications conglomerate in a satellite tower looking over the main field of Coachella, but now they were spooked.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
But because there was a change of possession, evidently the play wasn’t reviewable.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Back taxes evidently weren’t on his mind.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
And, no doubt, women in the original 1920s audience presumably had comparable lustful desires as the pair on stage; this was hardly the only Coward comedy of its era to be used for foreplay.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
-
And, no doubt, women in the original 1920s audience presumably had comparable lustful desires as the pair on stage.—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
20 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Making the record even more impressive was the revelation in the post-competition weighing of Wilkins’ discus to verify the record that the implement was actually two ounces heavier than the required 4 pounds, 6 ounces weight, a fact that cost Wilkins additional inches, probably feet.—
Scott M. Reid,
Oc Register,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Berea College, in Kentucky, is probably the most well known of these institutions.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Those are applications, likely sent by mail, that have been submitted but that the agency has not physically opened and assigned a category.—
Ximena Bustillo,
NPR,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Associated retail and student housing will likely be part of the surrounding area.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Putatively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/putatively. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
