How to Use ostensible in a Sentence

ostensible

adjective

• Once again the ostensible premise is power — its use, abuse and the fight over who gets to wield it.
  — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2023
• But the trip means far more to the two men than its ostensible purpose suggests.
  — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024
• Many were delighted to see this ostensible paragon of virtue take a fall.
  — Dwight Garner, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2018
• The scene, the ostensible purpose of the entire film, is maybe two minutes long.
  — Matthew Schnipper, Vulture, 31 July 2025
• These are as much the subject of the book as its ostensible subject, piano lessons; these are life lessons.
  — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 6 Apr. 2022
• Many of the same lawmakers who were ostensible deficit hawks in past years are now saying, eh, that’s fine.
  — Bess Levin, The Hive, 7 Sep. 2017
• So much of the ostensible plot of the series is broad and so much of the execution is quite droll.
  — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2024
• McAuliffe’s ostensible role on the shuttle was to teach science lessons from space.
  — Washington Post, 20 June 2021
• Ti is the next step up in the family and starts at an ostensible $749.
  — PCMAG, 4 Mar. 2025
• The one-year anniversary this month of his death provides the ostensible hook for this followup.
  — Brian Lowry, CNN, 7 Aug. 2020
• Hours later, the event had been cancelled, with a sudden heat wave as the ostensible culprit.
  — Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2021
• The ostensible point of looks-maxxing is to bag hot chicks, but quite clearly the real fun comes from inspiring awe in men.
  — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026
• The feds’ ostensible reason for the invasion makes no sense.
  — Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
• In both cases, the ostensible purpose was to serve as a check on the integrity of the ballot.
  — Michael Wines, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023
• That gave conservatives on the high court an ostensible 6-3 edge for the first time in decades.
  — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 12 May 2021
• The ostensible reason for this is that Liza wasn’t holding the mic close enough (which doesn’t at all appear to be true).
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 June 2024
• Surely there’s a tube of glue somewhere in this massive house, but this is about the outing, not its ostensible purpose.
  — Chris Klimek, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025
• While the crispy, crunchy croquette of pig’s head is the ostensible star of this course, the brothy butter beans here play second fiddle to no one.
  — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2022
• The ostensible purpose of all the pageantry was to celebrate the queen’s birthday, which was in April.
  — Mark Landler, BostonGlobe.com, 2 June 2022
• The ostensible point of robotaxis is that they’re supposed to be safer drivers than humans.
  — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 18 Feb. 2026
• In this way, age, an ostensible blemish on the bliss of existence, becomes a form of beauty in and of itself.
  — Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Nov. 2020
• Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
  — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
• The ostensible concern is that there are real chances in such a high-pressure gung-ho atmosphere of a bad apple here or there.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 23 June 2021
• Sean Okuniewicz is boyish-voiced and square as Matthew, the ostensible leader of the group.
  — Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 31 May 2017
• The ostensible reason for rolling in the National Guard is high crime.
  — Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025
• The ostensible rationale is a contest to spend a week in the house, along with six (naturally) guests.
  — Brian Lowry, CNN, 9 Sep. 2019
• In their head-to-head matchups against their two ostensible competitors, though, the Giants have been handled.
  — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 15 May 2025
• Police later determined the bill of sale was a forgery and the ostensible buyer didn’t exist.
  — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 20 Feb. 2026
• The ostensible point of the meeting is to share announcements, discuss the events of the week, create new rules, and greet new arrivals.
  — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2020
• By the time Kurczy does return to the book’s ostensible theme, the clichés are coming fast and furious.
  — Chris Lehmann, The New Republic, 3 Sep. 2021