seemingly

British  

/ ˈsiːmɪŋlɪ /

adverb

1. in appearance but not necessarily in actuality

   with seemingly effortless ease

2. (sentence modifier) apparently; as far as one knows

   seemingly, he had few friends left

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Explanation

Something seemingly true appears to be true. Use the adverb seemingly when you want to say "on the face of it" or "apparently." The word seemingly refers to how things look on the surface — how they seem — and it often suggests there's more to the story. A seemingly broken ankle might actually be sprained, and a seemingly rich man might actually be deeply in debt. While your dog is seemingly well-behaved, he may be eating the garbage when you're not home. Seemingly means about the same as apparently, ostensibly, or surely.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seemingly

But water companies have been running campaigns urging us to use less water, seemingly with limited success.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Is this seemingly unstoppable stock market starting to feel like 1999, when technology stocks went vertical on a wave of speculation?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Have you ever listened to a friend talk with great passion and depth about a seemingly mundane thing, and come away seeing it differently?

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

Nearly 90 years ago, Werner Heisenberg predicted a strange quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence, in which seemingly empty space can change the way light behaves.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Whatever the formal status, the marriage was a successful and seemingly happy one, producing four daughters and two sons who survived childhood, and two more babies who died in infancy.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin