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

The seemingly unlikely deal was born out of shared experiences with Federal Bureau of Investigation raids.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

The home has seemingly found a new buyer and is pending sale, according to property records.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

But with war risks seemingly on the wane, and corporate America growing profits at a double-digit pace, investors are seeing few reasons to miss out on the market’s springtime momentum.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

The seemingly intractable issue over Hezbollah's weapons has long divided Lebanon, but Aoun appeared to believe he could solve it.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

When I looked out the window a few minutes later, Markie had seemingly cloned himself and there were fifty, sixty, I don’t know, hundreds of him running around the yard.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen