Word of the Day : March 23, 2022

ostensible

play
adjective ah-STEN-suh-bul

What It Means

Ostensible means "seeming or said to be true or real but very possibly not true or real."

// The ostensible purpose of a filibuster is to extend debate.

See the entry >

ostensible in Context

"The Globetrotters … have acquired a loyal following thanks to family-friendly events in which players show off such records-worthy skills and interact with fans while still managing to wallop their ostensible opponents." — Peter Tonguette, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 22 Dec. 2021


Did You Know?

Ostensible comes from Latin ostendere, meaning "to show," and the word suggests a discrepancy between a declared or implied aim or reason and the true one.



Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a word meaning "marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior": f _ _ _ b _ _ a _ t.

VIEW THE ANSWER

Podcast


More Words of the Day

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!