What is the meaning of ostensibly?

adverb

  • From appearances alone.
    • usage: "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"
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APAWordNet. (2010). ostensibly. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/ostensibly/definitions/1252737
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "ostensibly" http://smartdefine.org/ostensibly/definitions/1252737 (accessed September 20, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, ostensibly, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/ostensibly/definitions/1252737>.
MLAWordNet. "ostensibly" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/ostensibly/definitions/1252737>
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