ostensibly

adverb os·ten·si·bly \ ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-blē \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: ostensibly in a Sentence

Definition of ostensibly

1 : in an ostensible manner

2 : to all outward appearances

See ostensibly defined for kids

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 of ostensibly from the Web

Undeterred, Bethlehem Steel sent submarine parts to an assembling plant in Montreal ostensibly for humanitarian rebuilding efforts—and American steel started leaking into the Allied war effort.

— jonathan schifman, Popular Mechanics, "The Entire History of Steel," 9 July 2018
One of Burton’s most famous images depicts a wide-eyed Carter gazing into Tutankhamun’s burial chamber, ostensibly for the first time.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "Rare Photographs Put Focus on Egyptians Who Worked Alongside Carter to Excavate Tutankhamun’s Tomb," 9 July 2018
In March, President Donald Trump fired David Shulkin, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, ostensibly for mismanaging public funds.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "Scott Pruitt’s scandals throw David Shulkin’s firing in stark relief.," 7 June 2018
Yet the financial pressures and inherent conflicts of joint ownership made Friday’s decision to withhold Audible from the Belmont (ostensibly for a minor injury) both predictable and regrettable.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Of course Audible scratched. WinStar Farms has too much money at stake," 25 May 2018
In January of 2011, after he was briefly placed on house arrest, his Shanghai studio was demolished, ostensibly for a lack of proper permits.

— brittany martin, Los Angeles Magazine, "Ai Weiwei Will Be All Over L.A. This Fall With Simultaneous Exhibits," 22 May 2018
The prosecutor who ostensibly for the Justice Department is going to follow Justice Department guidelines, and that is a news story.

— Fox News, "Giuliani says Mueller acknowledged he can't indict Trump," 17 May 2018
Another major finding related to that was that there were a large number of posts – 5 percent — that were not science-focused, even though the pages were ostensibly about science.

— sandy bauers, Philly.com, "Millions rely on Facebook for health and science information. Is that a good thing?," 25 Apr. 2018
For some background, Dowd’s interview with Thurman was ostensibly about film producer Harvey Weinstein preying on Thurman and her guilt and anger for not speaking up then, so other actresses wouldn’t have subsequently been victimized.

— cynthia billhartz gregorian, kansascity, "Quentin Tarantino draws fire after ‘Kill Bill’ car crash and rape comments surface," 6 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ostensibly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.