reputedly

[ ri-pyoo-tid-lee ]

adverb

1. according to reputation or popular belief:

   a reputedly honest man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of reputedly¹

First recorded in 1680–90; reputed + -ly

Example Sentences

Men in plain clothes were moving rapidly towards them so Stevenson, a notorious crime boss who had reputedly been the target of numerous attempts on his life, took to his heels.

From BBC

His creation, the SigCircus, was a truck-mounted mobile radio broadcasting unit that shuttled messages between the U.S. and Europe — and reputedly between the White House and Downing Street.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s where the padres of the San Gabriel mission lived for a time, and it’s reputedly where the first orange seedlings in California were planted.

From Los Angeles Times

This caused all but 15 of the 38 competitors to abandon the race, with eight finishers reputedly taken away on stretchers.

From BBC

Of the roughly 20 million books in Harvard University’s libraries, one has long exerted a unique dark fascination, not for its contents, but for the material it was reputedly bound in: human skin.

From New York Times

Related Words

• allegedly
• apparently
• probably
• purportedly