Ostensibly means as it is made to appear, though the truth may differ. Ostensibly a holiday, ostensibly independent, ostensibly for safety reasons.
It is one of the most useful words in journalism, since it reports the stated reason and disowns it in the same breath. Everybody hears the doubt, which is the whole point.
1adverbostensiblyAs it is made to appear, though the truth may differ.
“He went to Paris, ostensibly for a conference, but really to see his girlfriend.”
ostensibly is a manner.
Proto-Indo-European
*tend-
Latin
ostensus
French
ostensible
English
ostensible
English, today
ostensibly
Built from
From ostensible + -ly. 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). Cf. ostentatious.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA