Carsten's Corrections 2
"Scheinbar" is often used incorrectly.
Many people are unaware of this.
The German words "scheinbar" and "anscheinend" appear to be synonymous. But appearances are deceptive. In fact, they are opposites.
The colleague is "scheinbar" stupid. What sounds like an insult is, on closer inspection, a compliment. Because in German language "scheinbar" stupid means nothing other than that it only seems that way on the outside. It only seems that way, but in reality it is different. "She's apparently stupid" is equivalent to, "She's the opposite of stupid - even though it may seem otherwise on the surface."
It is quite different when you call someone "anscheinend" stupid. That's actually an insult. "Anscheinend" in fact stands for "it looks quite like it and is very likely to be so."
Depending on which of the two words is used, the example is either a compliment or an insult. Reason enough to carefully weigh the difference between "scheinbar" and "anscheinend", right?