Meanings
- not comparableAs a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some people.
People from other planets have supposedly visited Earth in flying saucers.
5 more examples
Near-synonyms: supposably, reportedly, reputedly, purportedly, putatively, rumoredly, allegedly, ostensibly, possibly, probably, likely, plausibly
According to your testimony, you were supposedly at home watching TV when the murder occurred.
In these early days of silent pictures, the accent was chiefly on thrills and danger as provided by supposedly unstoppable locomotives with crooks or maniacs on the footplate.
1958 February 28, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 88France were supposedly a team in pieces, beaten by Tonga just a week ago and with coach Marc Lievremont publicly berating his players, but so clear-cut was their victory that much of the atmosphere had been sucked from the contest long before the end.
2011 October 8, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2022I haven't booked, so I don't have a clue as to whether the service will be busy or not. Supposedly, reservations are compulsory, but I want to find out what would happen if you just turn up.
2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68Synonyms: supposably, reportedly, reputedly, purportedly, putatively, rumoredly, allegedly, ostensibly
- Philippinesinformalnot comparableUsed in place of "supposed to be," often in informal or colloquial speech, as a mispronunciation.
My parents told me I am supposedly in bed by 10 P.M.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbAs a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some people.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbbelieved or reputed to be the case
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian каза, по общо мнение
- каза (kaza)as a matter of supposition
- по общо мнение (po obšto mnenie)as a matter of supposition
Catalan suposadament
- suposadamentas a matter of supposition
Chinese Mandarin 應該 /应该
- 應該 /应该 (yīnggāi)as a matter of supposition
Czech údajně
- údajněas a matter of supposition
Dutch verondersteld, vermeend
- verondersteldas a matter of supposition
- vermeendas a matter of supposition
Esperanto supozeble
- supozebleas a matter of supposition
Finnish muka, ilmeisesti
- mukaas a matter of supposition
- ilmeisestias a matter of supposition
- mukamasas a matter of supposition
French supposément
- supposémentas a matter of supposition
German angeblich
- angeblichas a matter of supposition
Greek δήθεν, υποτίθεται
- δήθεν (díthen)as a matter of supposition
- υποτίθεται (ypotíthetai)as a matter of supposition
- και καλά (kai kalá)as a matter of supposition
Hungarian állítólag, vélhetőleg
- állítólagas a matter of supposition
- vélhetőlegas a matter of supposition
- feltehetőlegas a matter of supposition
- feltehetőenas a matter of supposition
- vélhetőenas a matter of supposition
- feltételezhetőenas a matter of supposition
Italian presumibilmente
- presumibilmenteas a matter of supposition
Māori ko te tikanga ..., koirā te tikanga
- ko te tikanga ...as a matter of supposition
- koirā te tikangaas a matter of supposition
Norwegian Bokmål visstnok, angivelig
- visstnokas a matter of supposition
- angiveligas a matter of supposition
- etter sigendeas a matter of supposition
Polish podobno, rzekomo
- podobnoas a matter of supposition
- rzekomoas a matter of supposition
- ponoćas a matter of supposition
Portuguese supostamente
- supostamenteas a matter of supposition
Romanian cică
- cicăas a matter of supposition
Russian предположи́тельно
- предположи́тельно (predpoložítelʹno)as a matter of supposition
Spanish supuestamente
- supuestamenteas a matter of supposition
Swedish förment
- förmentas a matter of supposition
Cite this entry
supposedly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supposedly
“supposedly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supposedly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “supposedly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supposedly.
Source: supposedly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.