ostensibly

adverb

os·​ten·​si·​bly ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-blē 

ə-

1

: in a manner that conceals or may conceal what is true or real

The story is ostensibly fiction, but some of the events are based on real life.

… this was the first time that he had been ostensibly frank as to his purpose while really concealing it.

—Thomas Hardy

2

: to all outward appearances

Ostensibly, the reason for his visit was to see an old friend.

… invited me to come inside with him, ostensibly to say good-bye to the hippie friend but actually to smoke pot …

—Donna Tartt

Synonyms of ostensibly

• apparently
• seemingly
• supposedly
• presumably
• evidently
• probably

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

Recent Examples on the Web

All these ostensibly white people, men and women, spoke with a West African accent. — Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 13 Oct. 2026

When his young son is ostensibly abducted for ransom on Halloween night, Mark must confess his financial ruin to his therapist wife, Abigail (Washington), who has actually been having an ongoing affair with a coworker. — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026

The buildup to and aftermath of the shooting are narrated in a variety of forms, including a four-hundred-page memoir within the novel, ostensibly written by Jonson. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

The refs ostensibly thought Leipold was running on the field to complain about the interference call. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 10 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

ostensible + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

1765, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ostensibly

• insensibly
• indispensably
• sensibly

Kids Definition

ostensibly

adverb

os·​ten·​si·​bly ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-blē 

ə-

: to all outward appearances : seemingly

a statement ostensibly true