Learn English – Difference between ‘purportedly’ vs ‘ostensibly’

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Excerpts:

Putin also envisioned a future for war where drones, OSTENSIBLY controlled by artificial intelligence, would fight proxy wars between countries

link to the article

After the participants completed the scrambled-sentence task, they went to another laboratory to participate in what was PURPORTEDLY a second task

link to the book (170th page)

links to the explanations:

first

it says that purportedly is supposedly; ostensibly is seemingly or apparently

roger that, but

second

this source conveys some slightly different point in view of previous explanation

  • purportedly

Seemingly: Use when an observable fact is contrary to the truth

  • ostensibly

Supposedly: Use when a fact is rumored to be true

Apparently: Use when the truth of a fact is observable, if one looks

As for me, supposedly and apparently are opposite to each other

third

This book ostensibly provides the
reader with all the information needed
to write good prose.

Here the speaker is implying that some other information — the blurb on the book jacket, a review in a newspaper perhaps — has suggested that the book contains the information in question, but that the speaker makes no guarantees on that point and may even be setting up a rebuttal to that contention, following the first sentence with something like "But I found it an utter waste of time."

fourth

Oxford dictionary has the word 'purportedly' for 'ostensibly' as a synonym

Question:

I wonder what is the difference between 'ostensibly' and 'purportedly'

Best Answer

Ostensibly is used to meant that something ought to be true, but either the speaker can't verify its truth, or the speaker suspects it may not be true:

Dr. Jones is, ostensibly, the primary authority on the subject, but nevertheless he often defers to the opinions of other experts.

In the United States the Justice Department is ostensibly independent from the executive, but recent actions by the current president belie its supposed autonomy.

Purportedly is used to indicate something is presented as true, when it is actually false.

Government documents purportedly stated that New Orleans' levies were able to withstand flooding of much greater magnitude than happened after hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the truth was that they were nowhere near enough.

He was said to be the richest man in the country, but, in actuality, his purported wealth existed mostly in his own head.

These are loose synonyms, but purported more strongly indicates deception. For example, in the above example I could change out "supposed" with "purported" to suggest that the government has been actively lying about the Justice Department's independence from the executive branch:

... but recent actions by the current president belie its purported autonomy

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