presumably

American  

[pri-zoo-muh-blee] / prɪˈzu mə bli /

adverb

1. by assuming reasonably; probably.

   Since he is a consistent winner, he is presumably a superior player.

   Synonyms:

   apparently, likely, doubtless

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presumably British  

/ prɪˈzjuːməblɪ /

adverb

1. (sentence modifier) one presumes or supposes that

   presumably he won't see you, if you're leaving tomorrow

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Etymology

Origin of presumably

First recorded in 1640–50; presumable + -ly

Explanation

Presumably you are reading these word blurbs because you're interested in learning some useful words. You can add presumably to any statement that you think is true — it indicates a logical conclusion for which you don't have definite proof. When you add presumably to whatever you're saying, you're giving notice that you think what you're saying is true but telling your listener not to ask for the evidence. You might watch beer commercials and say to yourself, "Presumably advertisers think people will find this commercial amusing and want to run out and buy tubs of this beer." The adverb presumably is related to the nouns presumption and assumption, which are also notions you accept without proof.

Example Sentences

We will presumably never know what specific risks they identified, although it was interesting Sir Olly said they did not relate to Jeffrey Epstein.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

We shaved our forecast for global growth a bit more than the IMF to 2.9% for this year, presumably based on a somewhat higher assumption for oil prices.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

None of this will make life easy for Kevin Warsh when he takes over as Fed Chairman, presumably in May.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

He noted that the company presumably is doing well if executives forked over more than $14 billion to buy “49% of something they sold under duress.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

The first great, practical achievement of the new science was Newcomen’s steam engine of 1712—the very engine Swift was presumably mocking when he complained about mills being built where there were no rivers.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• apparently
• doubtless
• probably
• seemingly
• supposedly
• surely