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Possibly vs Seem - What's the difference?

possibly | seem |

As an adverb possibly

is (modifying a clause or predicate).

As a proper noun seem is

shem.

possibly

English

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • (modifying a clause or predicate)
  • Possibly , they will make gains in the midterm elections.
    It was possibly the costliest mistake in the organization's history.
    This rare and possibly unique specimen must be conserved.
  • (modifying a verb)
  • I'm much stronger than you, so you can't possibly win.
    I couldn't possibly be there on time.
    I couldn't possibly cheat on my wife.
    It seems unlikely, but, yes, they could possibly win even now.
    The police don't know him, and the information they have leads them to think he could possibly have murdered his wife.

    Synonyms

    * conceivably, maybe, perhaps, potentially

    Antonyms

    * impossibly * inevitably * certainly

    seem

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (lb) To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.
  • * 1813 (14thc.), (Dante Alighieri), The Vision of Hell as translated by The Rev. H. F. Cary.
  • *:He, from his face removing the gross air, / Oft his left hand forth stretch'd, and seem'd alone / By that annoyance wearied.
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too..
  • *, title=The Mirror and the Lamp
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=19 citation , passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=August 5, author=Nathan Rabin
  • , title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993) , passage=So while Ralph generally seems to inhabit a different, more glorious and joyful universe than everyone else here his yearning and heartbreak are eminently relateable. Ralph sometimes appears to be a magically demented sprite who has assumed the form of a boy, but he’s never been more poignantly, nakedly, movingly human than he is here.}}
  • (lb) To befit; to beseem.
  • :(Spenser)
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Derived terms

    * meseems * seeming * seemingly

    Statistics

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