ostensible
Syllables: os·ten·si·bleUK/ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl//ɑˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/
ostensible adjective: apparent, evident; meant for open display.
Adjective
ostensible (comparative more ostensible, superlative most ostensible)
- Apparent, evident; meant for open display.
- Motives, of course, may be mixed; but this only means that a man aims at a variety of goals by means of the same course of action. Similarly a man may have a strong motive or a weak one, an ulterior motive or an ostensible one.1956–1960, R.S. Peters, The Concept of Motivation, Routledge & Kegan Paul (second edition, 1960), chapter ii: “Motives and Motivation”, page 32
- In witch-trials the conflict was officially defined as between the accused and God, or between the accused and the Catholic (later Protestant) church, as God's earthly representative. […] Behind the ostensible conflict of the witch-trial lay the usual conflicts of social class, values, and human...1974, Thomas S. Szasz, chapter 11, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 192
- Appearing as such; being such in appearance; professed, supposed (rather than demonstrably true or real).
- The ostensible reason for his visit to New York was to see his mother, but the real reason was to get to the Yankees game the next day.
ostensible meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
ostensible in Tamil
- புறப்பகட்டான, வெளி வேடமான, மேம்போக்கான
ostensible in Urdu
- ظاہر
ostensible in Bengali
- বাহ্যিকভাবে প্রদর্শিত, কথিত
ostensible in Malayalam
- കാണത്തക്കത്, എന്നാൽ ശരിയാവണമെന്നില്ല, കാഴ്ചയിൽ മാത്രമായ, പ്രത്യക്ഷമായത്, പുറമേ കാണുന്ന
More languagesFewer languages
- ostensible in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಕಟ, ಮೇಲ್ನೋಟದ, ಹೊರ ತೋರಿಕೆಯ, ಕೇವಲ ತೋರಿಕೆಯ
Antonyms of ostensible
Forms of ostensible
| comparative | more ostensible |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ostensible |
Origin of ostensible
Borrowed from French ostensible, formed with the suffix -ible, from Latin ostensus, the past participle of ostendō (“show”), itself from obs- (“in front of”) (akin to ob- (“in the way”)) + tendō (“stretch”) (akin to Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō)). Cf. ostentatious.
Words formed from ostensible
Questions about ostensible
- What does ostensible mean?
- Ostensible means apparent, evident; meant for open display.
- What is ostensible in Tamil?
- Ostensible in Tamil is புறப்பகட்டான, வெளி வேடமான, மேம்போக்கான. See Ostensible meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ostensible?
- Ostensible is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ostensible?
- Ostensible is pronounced /ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/ (UK).
Words near ostensible in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ostensible (page history and authors); ostensible (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ostensible (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ostensible (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ostensible (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ostensible (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “ostensible.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ostensible. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.