ostensibly

WOTD – 5 April 2007    

English

Etymology

ostensible +‎ -ly, from French ostensible, from Latin ostensus, past participle of ostendō (“I show”), from ob (“before”) + tendō (“I stretch out”)

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ɒˈstɛn.sɪ.bli/ or /ɒˈstɛn.sə.bli/
• (US) IPA: /ɑːˈstɛn.sə.bli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Hyphenation: os‧ten‧si‧bly

Adverb

ostensibly (not comparable)

1. (modal) seemingly, apparently, on the surface
   • 1889, Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee, Dictionary of national biography

     On 13 June the peshwa signed a new treaty, ostensibly complying with the demands of the British government...

   • 1906, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, Chapter 9

     Up to a year or two ago it had been the custom to kill horses in the yards — ostensibly for fertilizer...

   • 2007, Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson, Sandworms of Dune

     People strive to achieve perfection — ostensibly an honorable goal — but complete perfection is dangerous. To be imperfect, but human, is far preferable.

Synonyms

• (seemingly): apparently, arguably, at first blush, seemingly, ostensively

Related terms

• ostensive

Translations

ostensibly

• Dutch: ogenschijnlijk (nl), op het eerste gezicht (nl)
• Finnish: näennäisesti (fi)
• French: soi-disant (fr), en apparence (fr)
• Greek: φαινομενικά, κατ' επίφασιν, φαινομενικά (el) (fenomenika) ( formally)
• Japanese: うわべは (ja) (uwabe wa), 表向きは (ja) (omotemuki wa)
• Persian: به ظاهر (fa)

• Polish: pozornie (pl)
• Russian: якобы (ru) (jákoby)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: то̀боже (sh)

  Roman: tòbože (sh)

• Spanish: ostensiblemente (es)
• Swedish: skenbart (sv), till synes (sv)