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

     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 god — 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

Persian: به ظاهر (fa) Polish: pozornie (pl) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: то̀боже (sh) Roman: tòbože (sh) Spanish: ostensiblemente (es)