as in seemingly
to all outward appearances
he stops by his old office periodically, ostensively just to say "hi"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ostensively
Adverb
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After that, Johnson was seemingly out of the jam, but the pop-up dropped and two more runs scored.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
31 Mar. 2026 -
In Tennessee, bills moving through the legislature would allow public schools to refuse to enroll undocumented students, seemingly in violation of Plyer.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Berseth did not respond to a phone message or to an email or letter sent to addresses apparently associated with her.—
David Hilzenrath,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2026
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But, as has been widely discussed, putting US boots on the ground would carry enormous risks, not least because possible ground operations have been telegraphed by Washington for weeks, while apparently unprepared US forces scattered across the world have been slowly amassed.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Many of the biblical references, including the rider of the pale horse, come from the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, which is ostensibly about the second coming of Christ and judgment day.—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2026
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But ostensibly obvious fixes like individualized artist profiles and two-factor authentication are complicated by the variety of distribution services available.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Our military bases in the region, Margaret, right now are supposedly uninhabitable.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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In Huerta’s case, critics just don’t buy how someone who carried Chávez’s torch decades after his death could all of a sudden supposedly turn on him.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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There’s evidently a limit to how far an actor will go in compromising their ability to portray a more youthful person.—
Valerie Monroe,
Allure,
25 Mar. 2026
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The other ranking finds that Naperville is evidently taking care of business quite well.—
Steve Metsch,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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So why was The Testaments the project to lead to her largest acting role — and, presumably, press circuit — in years?—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Mar. 2026
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The musicians presumably had to rely heavily on loops in order to finish their tracks before the buzzer went off, and something is always slamming, scratching, or puttering away in the background.—
Daniel Bromfield,
Pitchfork,
30 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Ostensively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ostensively. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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