Supposably or supposedly?
supposably is an adverb meaning “Able to be supposed or conjectured”; supposedly is an adverb meaning “As a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) supposedly is about 363 times as common as supposably.
What is the difference between supposably and supposedly?
| supposably | supposedly | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb | adverb |
| Meaning | Able to be supposed or conjectured | As a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some people informalUsed in place of "supposed to be," often in informal or colloquial speech, as a mispronunciation |
| Example | Near-synonyms: reportedly, reputedly, purportedly, putatively, rumoredly, allegedly, ostensibly, possibly, probably, likely, plausibly | Near-synonyms: supposably, reportedly, reputedly, purportedly, putatively, rumoredly, allegedly, ostensibly, possibly, probably, likely… |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /səˈpəʊ̯.zɪd.li/ /səˈpoʊ̯.zɪd.li/ |
| In writing | about once in every 40 million words | 9.1 times per million words |
Sources: supposably and supposedly in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of supposably and supposedly
supposably
- 1
Able to be supposed or conjectured
supposedly
- 1
As a matter of supposition; in the beliefs or according to the claims of some people
Near-synonyms: supposably, reportedly, reputedly, purportedly, putatively, rumoredly, allegedly, ostensibly, possibly, probably, likely, plausibly
- 2
informalUsed 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
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, supposably or supposedly?
supposably appears about once in every 40 million words; supposedly 9.1 times per million words.
supposably about once in every 40 million wordssupposedly 9.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search supposably vs supposedly?
“supposably vs supposedly” is searched about 1,900 times a month on Google and 160 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“supposedly vs supposably”, “supposably or supposedly”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.