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

The on-board algorithms that decide how and when to deploy the car's electrical hybrid power were seemingly thwarted by the drivers using less acceleration than usual to deal with the slippery conditions.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
In Massachusetts and Maine, that approval is also contingent on the federal government finding a long-term solution to the seemingly intractable problem of storing radioactive nuclear waste.

— John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of seemingly

Adverb

There wasn’t a penalty on the play, but the NFL apparently saw something amiss.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Oct. 2026
Commissioner Josh Davidson countered that Pourharton’s figures apparently didn’t include income from his commission on Valero gas sales or on lottery tickets.

— Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of apparently

Adverb

Pike is in critical condition and receiving life-saving medical care after being injected with two ostensibly fatal doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said Thursday.

— Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
The kettle ostensibly includes a spout through which people are released as molecules are split from their collective bonds.

— Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of ostensibly

Adverb

Given Polymarket’s popularity, its prices can feed back into the events its bets supposedly only predict.

— Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Rogers was also aware that Lee, now supposedly an economics professor at a Chinese university, had an unusually intense interest in him.

— Eamon Javers, CNBC, 30 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

These messages, presumably written by students, are arguably reductive in their analysis.

— Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2026
Her former research partner has absconded with her life’s work, presumably to put toward greedy human means of Manifest Destiny.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of presumably

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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 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of ostensively

adverb

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