ostensible

3 definitions found

ostensible - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Ostensible \Os*ten"si*ble\ ([o^]s*t[e^]n"s[i^]*b'l), a. [From L.
     ostensus, p. p. of ostendere to show, prop., to stretch out
     before; fr. prefix obs- (old form of ob-) + tendere to
     stretch. See Tend.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Capable of being shown; proper or intended to be shown.
        [R.] --Walpole.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Outwardly appearing to be; shown to be; exhibited;
        apparent; evident.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     3. Declared; avowed; professed; pretended; -- often used as
        opposed to real or actual; as, an ostensible reason,
        motive, or aim. --D. Ramsay.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

ostensible - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  ostensible
      adj 1: appearing as such but not necessarily so; "for all his
             apparent wealth he had no money to pay the rent"; "the
             committee investigated some apparent discrepancies"; "the
             ostensible truth of their theories"; "his seeming
             honesty" [syn: apparent(a), ostensible, seeming(a)]
      2: represented or appearing as such; pretended; "His ostensible
         purpose was charity, his real goal popularity" [syn:
         ostensible, ostensive]

ostensible - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  83 Moby Thesaurus words for "ostensible":
     Barmecidal, Barmecide, airy, alleged, apparent, apparitional,
     appearing, arrant, autistic, avowed, blatant, bold, chimeric,
     claimed, colorable, colored, conspicuous, deceptive, delusional,
     delusionary, delusive, delusory, dereistic, dreamlike, dreamy,
     erroneous, fallacious, false, fantastic, flagrant, gilded, glaring,
     hanging out, hypocritical, illusional, illusionary, illusive,
     illusory, imaginary, in name only, in relief, in the foreground,
     meretricious, misleading, notable, noticeable, notorious,
     obtrusive, outstanding, outward, phantasmagoric, phantasmal,
     phantom, plausible, pretended, pretexted, professed, prominent,
     pronounced, purported, salient, seeming, self-deceptive,
     self-deluding, so-called, specious, spectral, staring,
     stark-staring, sticking out, striking, superficial, supposed,
     supposititious, surface, tinsel, to the eye, unactual, unfounded,
     unreal, unsubstantial, visible, visionary