ostensibly
adverb
os·ten·si·bly
ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-blē 
ə-
1
: in an ostensible manner
2
: to all outward appearances
Examples of ostensibly in a Sentence
The god of cleanliness is never satisfied. In America, the ostensibly egalitarian nature of society meant that cleanliness was used to mark status.
—
Joanna Bourke, Harper's, April 2008
Budweiser and Miller, on the other hand, have eroded their credibility by launching brands ostensibly produced by microbreweries. They've been found out, with resulting customer cynicism.
—James R. Rosenfield, Demographics, December 1997
The day after Clinton made his seemingly proactive statement, he met with congressional leaders of both parties, ostensibly to press the case for military intervention.
—Michael Kelly, New Yorker, 19 Dec.1994
ostensibly a university student studying abroad, he was actually an espionage agent
Joanna Bourke, Harper's, April 2008
Budweiser and Miller, on the other hand, have eroded their credibility by launching brands ostensibly produced by microbreweries. They've been found out, with resulting customer cynicism.
—James R. Rosenfield, Demographics, December 1997
The day after Clinton made his seemingly proactive statement, he met with congressional leaders of both parties, ostensibly to press the case for military intervention.
—Michael Kelly, New Yorker, 19 Dec.1994
ostensibly a university student studying abroad, he was actually an espionage agent
Recent Examples on the Web
Hal rushes away, ostensibly to tell Grace Penn.
—Trish Deitch, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent analysis of fossilized remains in Kenya ostensibly proves that Paranthropis boisei was fully capable of crafting and using their own tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 16 Oct. 2025
Dolphins are the better team here and will show it in what ostensibly is an upset but doesn’t feel like one.
—Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2025
The country’s leaders, ostensibly engineers, got their calculations disastrously wrong and built too much of everything, including high-speed rail.
—Andy Browne, semafor.com, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ostensibly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Trish Deitch, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent analysis of fossilized remains in Kenya ostensibly proves that Paranthropis boisei was fully capable of crafting and using their own tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 16 Oct. 2025
Dolphins are the better team here and will show it in what ostensibly is an upset but doesn’t feel like one.
—Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2025
The country’s leaders, ostensibly engineers, got their calculations disastrously wrong and built too much of everything, including high-speed rail.
—Andy Browne, semafor.com, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ostensibly
Cite this Entry
“Ostensibly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostensibly. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ostensibly
adverb
os·ten·si·bly
ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-blē
ə-
: to all outward appearances : seemingly
a statement ostensibly true
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share