Definitions

for all intents and purposes

Part of Speech:

All (4) Adjective (1) Adverb (3)

Jump To:

practically adj.
ostensibly adv.
outwardly adv.
virtually adv.

ADJECTIVE

practically

Synonyms

STRONGEST

approximately basically essentially morally nearly virtually

STRONG

much

WEAK

about all but as good as as much as close to fundamentally in effect in essence most nigh well-nigh

Antonyms

WEAK

far not close

ADVERB

ostensibly

Synonyms

STRONGEST

evidently officially seemingly supposedly

WEAK

at first blush externally for show on the face on the surface outwardly professedly sensibly superficially to the eye

Antonyms

WEAK

improbably obscurely unlikely

ADVERB

outwardly

Synonyms

STRONGEST

seemingly superficially

STRONG

externally

WEAK

apparently as far as one can see evidently in appearance officially on the face of it on the surface ostensibly professedly to the eye

Antonyms

WEAK

inside internally inwardly privately

ADVERB

virtually

Synonyms

STRONGEST

basically essentially nearly practically

WEAK

around as good as effectually fundamentally give or take a little guesstimate implicitly in all but name in effect in essence in substance in the ballpark in the neighborhood morally not absolutely not actually something like upwards of

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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for all intents and purposes

Yet David craves Monica’s maternal affection as if he were real — and for all intents and purposes, he is.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

You know what other “Toy Story” character is, for all intents and purposes, a dog?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

In other words, for all intents and purposes Mr. Burger was a third author.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

“The consumer, for all intents and purposes, pays the tariff,” it added.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026

The overall correlation was now down to .11, which for all intents and purposes means that the students’ evaluations had almost nothing at all to do with the experts’ evaluations.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

for all intents and purposes

Example Sentences

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Related Words