ostensibly
Americanadverb
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ostensibly
First recorded in 1760–70; ostensib(le) ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
Ostensibly is an adverb you use to talk about something that looks one way, but underneath there's the hint of a different motivation for that action. One day you go to an ice cream shop. Then the next day. And the next. You keep going, ostensibly to buy ice cream, but there’s a deeper reason. The cute person who works there, perhaps? To ostensibly do something admits that the surface reason might not be the only reason. The Latin root words translate as “to stretch in view of,” so imagine that you’re stretching a thin mask over your true intentions.
Vocabulary lists containing ostensibly
"Marigolds"
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Born a Crime
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This Week in Pop Culture: January 26 - February 1, 2019
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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.
The officials are ostensibly questioning Weist, but they are also, in a sense, questioning their own categories.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ostensibly form a joint effort in arresting the yen’s slide.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
Duncan insisted that Consumers’ Research did nothing to change or alter this area of the law, because it involved an arrangement that ostensibly gave a federal agency more oversight than the FTC has here.
From Slate • Jun. 12, 2026
During the McCarthy era, overreaching laws, surveillance, and public and private sector reprisals ostensibly targeted alleged communists.
From Salon • May 28, 2026
Set in medieval Spain, Parsifal is ostensibly a parable about the Holy Grail, the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions 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.
