ostensible

[ o-sten-suh-buhl ]
See synonyms for: ostensibleostensibly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended: an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.

  2. apparent, evident, or conspicuous: the ostensible truth of their theories.

Origin of ostensible

1
First recorded in 1730–40; from French, from Latin ostēns(us) , variant of ostentus (cf. ostensive) + French -ible-ible

Other words from ostensible

  • os·ten·si·bly, adverb
  • non·os·ten·si·ble, adjective
  • non·os·ten·si·bly, adverb
  • un·os·ten·si·ble, adjective
  • un·os·ten·si·bly, adverb

Words that may be confused with ostensible

Words Nearby ostensible

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How to use ostensible in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ostensible

ostensible

/ (ɒˈstɛnsɪbəl) /


adjective
  1. apparent; seeming

  2. pretended

Origin of ostensible

1
C18: via French from Medieval Latin ostensibilis, from Latin ostendere to show, from ob- before + tendere to extend

Derived forms of ostensible

  • ostensibility, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012