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Does this word "apparently" mean that something is obvious or does it refer to something that seems true but actually isn't. Apparent means illusion, right?

People use this word quite often and I think they misuse it. For example, if a person says like:

Apparently, I cannot be responsible for all the things.

Does 'apparently' means obviously here? If it does, it's the wrong usage of this word.

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    You may use it as an adverb in any sentence that you might also use as a complement to It appears (to me) that. Where you put it in the sentence is, like all adverb placement, up to you.
    – John Lawler
    Dec 2, 2014 at 3:11
  • Since things are sometimes as they appear and sometimes not, it follows that the adverb apparently neither reliably confirms nor reliably denies the objective truth of the proposition that it modifies.
    – Brian Donovan
    Dec 2, 2014 at 5:12

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In the sentence:

Apparently, I cannot be responsible for all the things.

It sounds like a rejoinder in an argument, where it is equivalent to

Apparently, you think that I cannot be responsible for all the things.

As far as a lot of people using apparently to mean obviously, well it might be different from an established meaning, but it could also indicate a change in meaning. A/the meaning of a word is ultimately what people say it is. I may not like that a lot of people use literally to 'mean' figuratively in a sentence such as

? The kids were literally bouncing off the ceiling today.

But people do, and meanings change.

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