as in apparent
appearing to be true on the basis of evidence that may or may not be confirmed
the ostensive purpose of his visit was to discuss the terms of his will
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Recent Examples of ostensive
Just like Glaucon, the best this new interlocutor could do is an ostensive definition - provide examples of justice - or possibly present the etymology of the word.
—
Theodore McDarrah, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
The ostensive unpopularity of violet versus purple nagged at the back of Tager’s mind for much of his life, eventually setting him on a 20-year journey across 193 museums in 42 countries.
—Stephen MacKnik, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2021
The United Arab Emirates has taken advantage of the fight and now dominates the south, squeezing out its ostensive ally, Hadi.
—Washington Post, 12 May 2018
Theodore McDarrah, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
The ostensive unpopularity of violet versus purple nagged at the back of Tager’s mind for much of his life, eventually setting him on a 20-year journey across 193 museums in 42 countries.
—Stephen MacKnik, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2021
The United Arab Emirates has taken advantage of the fight and now dominates the south, squeezing out its ostensive ally, Hadi.
—Washington Post, 12 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ostensive
Adjective
-
Foreclosure would become nonviable as a means of tax collection — with no readily apparent alternative means for timely collection of the delinquent revenue.—
Todd Spangler,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Remember, magnitude is the scale used by astronomers to chart the apparent brightness of an object in the night sky.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The presumed reasoning behind why the film was ignored is multilayered.—
Marcus Jones,
IndieWire,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Outside the home, keep tree branches pruned, and as far away from the house as possible.—
Andrea Riquier,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Minor hail damage to vegetation is possible.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Latest Justice Department investigation into a political opponent Trump’s ostensible warning to Wray comes just days after a federal grand jury indicted Comey for allegedly obstructing a congressional proceeding and making a false statement to Congress.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Dale, who was closeted at the time of his death, leaves behind notes stashed inside his treasured first-edition books hinting that his wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) may have had something to do with his ostensible suicide.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
A lot of it was the distance that I was afforded, the seeming distance that I was afforded.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
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One of the reasons for the seeming disparity in AI’s capabilities is that many AI benchmarks do not reflect real world use cases.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The Seahawks put the Bucs in obvious situations, then offered little resistance.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
One obvious strategy to try to tackle the staffing problems is to close more prisons, and this year’s state budget authorized Governor Hochul to close up to three more.—
Jennifer Gonnerman,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Abramov points out that this does not disprove the Mars life explanation, but rather just presents an alternative, albeit much more probable, explanation for the evidence.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
1 Oct. 2025
-
First a look at the problems, and then the probable reasons.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ostensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ostensive. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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