Skip to content
ARCHIEENGLISH
LearnPlayWordsRanking
  • Learn
  • Play
  • Words
  • Ranking
  • Mine
← Vocabulary

ostensible

UK/ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/US/ɑˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/
adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,504 of 15,258mostly written

Ostensible means given as the reason, though not the real one. The ostensible purpose, an ostensible reason, ostensible authority.

It flags a stated reason and withholds belief in it, which is why journalists use it constantly. In law, ostensible authority is a real doctrine, since somebody who appears to have authority can bind a business that let them appear so.

Definitions of ostensible

  1. 1adjectiveostensibleGiven as the reason, though not the real one.C2

    “The ostensible reason for his visit was business, but he really came to see her.”

ostensible is a quality.

Where it comes from

French ostensible comes from Latin ostendere, to show.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *tend-

  2. Latin

    ostensus

  3. French

    ostensible

  4. English, today

    ostensible

Built from

  • ostendō · Latin — show
  • obs- · Latin — in front of
  • ob- · Latin — in the way
  • tendō · Latin — stretch

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). Cf. ostentatious.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

ostensible in the wild

  • The ostensible aim is to be the first to announce "Mornington Crescent", a station on the Northern line.

    Mornington Crescent (game)

  • In law, apparent authority (also called "ostensible authority") relates to the doctrines of the law of agency.

    Apparent authority

  • In relation to companies, the apparent authority of directors, officers and agents of the company is normally referred to as "ostensible authority".

    Apparent authority

  • The ostensible purpose of the law was to prevent unsafe tenement conditions as the city grew.

    Sanitary Ordinance

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the tendō family

pretendattendintense

ostensible — used about once every 54,060 pages · #14,504 · point at the bar for the others