Word of the Day

: June 28, 2018

ostensible

adjective ah-STEN-suh-bul

What It Means

1 : intended for display : open to view

2 : being such in appearance : plausible rather than demonstrably true or real

ostensible in Context

The novel's ostensible hero is in the end a villain of epic proportions.

"It's never for the profits or the sheer satisfaction of sticking it to your enemies and putting yourself in the best possible light. No, there's always some ostensible higher cause." — Rich Lowry, The Boston Herald, 18 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?

Like its synonyms apparent and seeming, ostensible implies a discrepancy between what appears to be and what actually is. Apparent suggests appearance to unaided senses that may not be borne out by more rigorous examination ("the apparent cause of the accident"). Seeming implies a character in the thing being observed that gives it the appearance of something else ("the seeming simplicity of the story"). Ostensible, which descends from the Latin word ostendere ("to show"), suggests a discrepancy between a declared or implied aim or reason and the true one.