ostensible
Americanadjective
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outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended.
an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.
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Rare. apparent, evident, or conspicuous.
the ostensible truth of their theories.
adjective
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apparent; seeming
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pretended
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ostensible
First recorded in 1730–40; from French, from Latin ostēns(us) , variant of ostentus ( cf. ostensive) + French -ible -ible
Explanation
When something is ostensible it appears to be the case but might not be. Your ostensible reason for visiting every bakery in town is that you're looking for a part-time job — but I think you really just want to eat cupcakes. Just because something is ostensible doesn't necessarily mean that it's not as it appears to be, only that there's a possibility of another reason. Your ostensible reason for calling your crush was to ask about homework; the real reason was that you were hoping they would ask you out. Ostensible derives from the Latin verb ostendere, meaning "to show or display."
Vocabulary lists containing ostensible
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Its ostensible focus was to secure the release of Adam Castillo, a US citizen who had been detained in June over a dispute with the local American Chamber of Commerce.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
"In many ways, this is going to be a recapitulation of Trump's visit to Beijing back in May, where the focus was really on the ostensible rapport between the two leaders."
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
The word “DeFiant” was a coy wink to this idea of decentralized currency, known as DeFi, the ostensible rationale for the new Trump–Witkoff platform.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
The ostensible musical connection—OK, alibi—is the show’s use of a pop classic-to-be, the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
In the following chapters we will see time and again how a dramatic increase in the collective power and ostensible success of our species went hand in hand with much individual suffering.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
