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ostensibly

   Also found in: Legal 0.01 sec.
os·ten·si·ble  (-stns-bl)
adj.
Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity.

[French, from Medieval Latin ostnsibilis, from Latin ostnsus, past participle of ostendere, to show : ob-, ob- + tendere, to stretch; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

os·tensi·bly adv.

ostensibly [ɒˈstɛnsɪblɪ]
adv
(sentence modifier) apparently; seemingly
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.ostensibly - from appearances alone; "irrigation often produces bumper crops from apparently desert land"; "the child is seemingly healthy but the doctor is concerned"; "had been ostensibly frank as to his purpose while really concealing it"-Thomas Hardy; "on the face of it the problem seems minor"

ostensibly
adverb apparently, seemingly, supposedly, outwardly, on the surface, on the face of it, superficially, to all intents and purposes, professedly, speciously, for the ostensible purpose of He came, ostensibly to talk her brother, but really to see her.
Translations
ostensibly [ɒsˈtensəblɪ] ADVaparentemente, en apariencia
ostensibly [ɒˈstɛnsəbli] advsoi-disant
ostensibly [ɒsˈtɛnsəblɪ] advapparentemente
ostensibly [ɒsˈtɛnsəblɪ] advapparentemente


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Richard, ostensibly highly amused and laughing at each other, moved the furniture of the box, lifted the cloths and the chairs and particularly examined the arm-chair in which "the man's voice" used to sit.
We sailed out of New York, ostensibly for the north-west coast, with sealed orders--"
They came to the hall, on a dark street-corner, ostensibly the quarters of an athletic club, but in reality an institution designed for pulling off fights and keeping within the police ordinance.
 
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