Supposedly Supposably Is Merely Supposition
Okay, I’ll keep this one short and sweet too: Supposably is not a word. Never has been, probably never will be. Sure, supposable is a word, as is its root, suppose. The kicker, though, is that the word most people are shooting for – supposedly, referring to “what is generally assumed or believed,” according to OED – when they say supposably is actually a word, while the latter bastard child of poor grammar isn’t.
The next time you’re about to whip out supposably, don’t. It doesn’t exist.
It’s in Merriam-Webster. It’s clear what it means. It pretty hard to argue that it’s not a word.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/70/S0907000.html
madbandril
2007 Feb 7 at 12:51
er, that should have been “Amerian Heritage Dictionary”, although it’s in Merriam-Webster as well
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/supposably
madbandril
2007 Feb 7 at 12:53
Yes, I just found out this today, but alas – supposably IS A WORD, but it is never the word that people intend when they use it!!
Cnote
2007 Sep 11 at 13:18
Since there are a great many english speakers in the entire world who are NOT in the US, we must safely assume that for a majority of the english-speaking world “supposably” is not a word:
“Supposedly” is the standard form. “Supposably” can be used only when the meaning is “capable of being supposed,” and then only in the U.S.
Stella Stapleton
2008 Mar 13 at 13:00
IT’S ANSWER MY QUESTION! :) ,,,
ariane besoro
2011 Nov 16 at 09:19