purportedly

American  

[per-pawr-tid-lee] / pərˈpɔr tɪd li /

adverb

1. according to what is or has been claimed, reputed, or asserted; allegedly.

   The upcoming version of the tablet will purportedly feature a brand new processor, but no other details are yet known.

   The defendant has not listed the brokers and valuation professionals with whom he purportedly consulted, nor has he told us the questions that he purportedly asked them.

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Etymology

Origin of purportedly

purported ( def. ) + -ly

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Explanation

If something purportedly happened, it may or may not have actually occurred. If your brother purportedly knows nothing about the cookies you left on the kitchen counter, it means he claims to be innocent of cookie theft. Whether or not you believe him, well, that's another story... When you use purportedly it means you only know what you've been told, or what appears to be the case, not necessarily what the entire truth is. A dog that purportedly doesn't bite is still scary when it's barking at you. And although your friend is purportedly only joking when she says she hates your haircut, it may still hurt your feelings. You can also use the synonyms "supposedly" or "allegedly."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

purportedly

The company is working on a locketlike Muse device that hangs on a necklace or keychain and will, purportedly, let you talk to your Muse when doing so via your phone is too much work.

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

Videos have emerged on social media purportedly showing explosions in the night skies in the Moscow region, and of a burning warehouse.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

For his students next semester, kids raised in a purportedly “post-literature era,” he’s assigning three 700-page novels, he noted mischievously, books by George Eliot, Ralph Ellison and Kiran Desai.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

All of the regimens surrounding Maddie and her illness are purportedly designed to be easily accessible for healthy, honest living.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

The Neylan board’s first case involved a former Los Alamos chemist named Robert Hurley, who had fallen under suspicion because his Latvian-born wife purportedly had leftist sympathies.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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Related Words

• allegedly
• apparently
• probably

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