How to Use ostensibly in a Sentence

ostensibly

adverb

• To me, the elves in this show that were ostensibly supposed to look scary?
  — Andy Meek, BGR, 29 Nov. 2021
• This can ostensibly be solved by taking the human out of the front seat of the car.
  — Johana Bhuiyan, Recode, 17 May 2018
• The other came out a month ago, but does, ostensibly, go up in the club.
  — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 12 Nov. 2019
• To be an ally is to step in to a fight that is ostensibly not your own.
  — Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2020
• So why the rush to unload what is ostensibly a 20-10 big man in the prime of his career?
  — Rahat Huq, Chron, 21 June 2022
• This was no small thing for a man who's played what are ostensibly some of the world's best parties -- but the fun didn't last.
  — Katie Bain, Billboard, 14 Oct. 2021
• The caliber of play in the new league, ostensibly, will be higher.
  — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2023
• This is one side of the pressure inside her mind, the one that can ostensibly drag her down.
  — oregonlive, 6 July 2021
• The language of the bill seems to ostensibly target men and not women.
  — Amira Rasool, Teen Vogue, 23 Feb. 2018
• Brown has not practiced with the Raiders in more than a week, ostensibly due to a foot ailment.
  — Matt Kawahara, SFChronicle.com, 9 Aug. 2019
• Perhaps the most telling change of all is one ostensibly small trim.
  — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2024
• Chaves stocks the snack box with chips and cookies, which ostensibly run for 50 cents apiece.
  — Matthew Ormseth, courant.com, 26 Oct. 2017
• The fact that many others saw and ostensibly were able to read the note is of no consequence.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 June 2021
• He was allowed to leave for 12 hours a day, six a days week, ostensibly to work.
  — New York Times, 26 July 2019
• The email, which looked to him like a fraud alert, directed him to what was ostensibly his bank’s sign-in page.
  — Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
• Echo Auto is a way to ostensibly put Alexa in your car by ...
  — Eric Johnson, Recode, 24 Dec. 2018
• The public ostensibly comes for free fried fish on white bread, but the main course is the politics.
  — Robin Givhan, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2019
• The band will ostensibly be on tour in support of their new album, which drops in April.
  — oregonlive, 23 Jan. 2023
• The series, ostensibly based on the book, is something else.
  — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 26 Apr. 2021
• The Last Week Tonight host is ostensibly pretty busy with his talk show these days.
  — Vulture, 19 Nov. 2022
• The ride was ostensibly about the harms caused by air pollution.
  — Carlton Reid, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2021
• That means more time — ostensibly — to sit at home and watch Netflix.
  — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 23 May 2018
• These views chafe with a recent flood of ostensibly good news.
  — Time, 25 Apr. 2018
• The parking lot was bordered with a black iron fence ostensibly to keep out crime.
  — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 16 Apr. 2018
• That's a good thing, as the roster is still very young and ostensibly still ascending.
  — Stephanie Stradley, Houston Chronicle, 6 Sep. 2019
• The Rams went into the locker room at halftime and ostensibly talked about how to put those plays behind.
  — Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2021
• Hill is still around, still adapting, even if the reasons why have ostensibly changed.
  — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 28 June 2023
• Things seemed, ostensibly, okay—shaking a daiquiri for cocktail hour is fun, for a minute.
  — Hazlitt, 1 Feb. 2023
• Most of the payout, strangely, was deferred, ostensibly so that the Dodgers could shell out for even more talent.
  — Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024
• Who, then, are these non-violent Islamists who might ostensibly be able to help us in the fight against, well . . .
  — Sam Westrop, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020

Last Updated: 26 Apr 2024