professedly

adverb

pro·​fessed·​ly prə-ˈfe-səd-lē How to pronounce professedly (audio) -ˈfest-lē How to pronounce professedly (audio)
1
: by profession or declaration : avowedly
2
: with pretense : allegedly

Examples of professedly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web How much of this was planned is unclear, but a subsequent scene in which Fielder calls the parents of the child actors to inform them of his new, fatherly involvement is another object lesson in the way that power can seep into even the most professedly intimate of nooks. Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022 But imagine if right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or another professedly illiberal leader took similar steps. Samuel Goldman, The Week, 18 Feb. 2022 In any prior year, that number would be noteworthy for the professedly liberal yet overwhelmingly white industry. Lee Seymour, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022 Early modern Europe had the daily pageant of court society, with its graceful, witty, professedly nonchalant aristocrats who had every muscle under tight control and every piece of clothing precisely arranged. David A. Bell, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021 Applebaum writes, professedly, about the ideological currents of elite discourse, not the economic anxiety of lower-middle-class Americans, Brits, or Poles. Jackson Lears, The New York Review of Books, 11 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'professedly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1569, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of professedly was in 1569

Dictionary Entries Near professedly

Cite this Entry

“Professedly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professedly. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

professedly

adverb
pro·​fessed·​ly prə-ˈfes-əd-lē How to pronounce professedly (audio) -ˈfest-lē How to pronounce professedly (audio)
1
: by one's own declaration
a professedly serious novelist
2
: supposedly but not really
was professedly open to all, but actually was not

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