"was practically certain" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
This phrase is often used to emphasize certainty, as in the following example sentence: "She was practically certain that she would get the job."
The journalist Jean-François Jean-François Kahnpractically certain" that Dsaidas not trying to rape the Sofitel maid, but was merely engaging in "troussage de domestique," lifting the skirt of the servant.
The proximity of the proposed residential units to the clubs left many feeling that the threat of noise complaints was practically certain.
It was practically certain that, given their tangled history and well-documented if largely out-of-view battle for the Iron Throne, I mean the "Tonight Show" desk, he would not leave his post before Jay Leno departed his.
They're practically certain to make your job look good.
Yet the legal battle over the no-fly list is practically certain to continue.
You were practically certain to find only bland foreigner fare, thanks to a well-meaning concern for your taste buds.
Insofar as an event which has probability very close to 1 is practically certain to happen, this result justifies the relative frequency interpretation of probability.
If they get into trouble together, it's practically certain that the government will bail them out, regardless of how unpopular such a move might be.
Owing to a collision with the torpedo gunboat Hazard during manoeuvres the submarine A 3 sank with four officers and ten men on board and it is practically certain that every soul perished.
In the event of a spill – which, given the oil industry's 100-year track record, is practically certain – the Arctic's extreme environment would render containment measures useless.
Some have questioned a bloated format that means all 14 competing teams play at least six matches before the knockout stages: the eight best sides are practically certain of quarter-final berths.
