OSTENSIVELY Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

ostensively

adverb

as in seemingly

to all outward appearances he stops by his old office periodically, ostensively just to say "hi"

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for ostensively

Adverb

Because Luann’s microphone has seemingly been surgically attached to her body, her toast goes on for over 35 minutes.

— Tom Smyth, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
After the event was disrupted by an armed intruder, the Administration and the association scheduled a July do-over, where Trump delivered a rambling speech indulging seemingly every tangent that sprang to mind, but his contempt remained apparent.

— Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of seemingly

Adverb

Mid-round, golfers head to the Halfway House for burger dogs and fish tacos, and the Links Margarita has apparently achieved something close to cult status among regulars.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Sep. 2026
The Soyuz rocket failure was apparently caused by a fire at the base of the booster about a minute before liftoff, according to the Encyclopedia Astronautica.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of apparently

Adverb

The Taliban’s return to power was swift, though preventing it had ostensibly been the entire point of the decades-long occupation, the bombs, the hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

— Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
In the south, an array of militias and armed groups arose over the years, ostensibly to back the government against the rebels.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of ostensibly

Adverb

The question this decision supposedly turns on had quietly stopped being the right one.

— Aditi Khullar, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Not just the supposedly existential risk that AI leaders started recently claiming required a slowdown, but also risks from bad actors like hackers or terrorists wielding AI to attack either country’s infrastructure.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of supposedly

Adverb

Breaking the law evidently isn’t one of the mayoral achievements City Hall is seeking to amplify.

— New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 24 Sep. 2026
With 53% of US 18-to-29s favorable towards socialism but only 45% favorable towards capitalism, Gen Z evidently feel let down by capitalism.

— Luba Kassova, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of evidently

Adverb

The other underclassmen Hurley was referring to in the top nine would presumably be sophomore star Braylon Mullins and freshmen Colben Landrew and Junior County, who are both expected to make immediate contributions.

— Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026
Once the shift to the Trop is official, game times and ticket information presumably will follow.

— Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of presumably

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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ostensive

ostensively

ostentation

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“Ostensively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ostensively. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of ostensively

adverb

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