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  1. ostensibly love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. In an ostensible manner; as shown or pretended; professedly.

Wiktionary

  1. adv. modal seemingly, apparently, on the surface

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adv. In an ostensible manner; avowedly; professedly; apparently.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adv. from appearances alone

Etymologies

  1. ostensible +‎ -ly, from French ostensible, from Latin ostensus, past participle of ostendō ("I show"), from ob ("before") + tendō ("I stretch out"). (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “So maybe there’s a legal convention concerning how definitions such as this are to be circumscribed/overridden/whatever by the common English meaning however vague by comparison of the term ostensibly being defined?”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Hate Crimes and Double Jeopardy:

  • “When he sat down she began to sing a welcome to “Uncle Walter” ostensibly from the mayor (Ivancie I believe).”

    Walter and me (Jack Bog's Blog)

  • “Even those living in ostensibly less affluent areas will be affected.”

    The Guardian: Housing benefit cuts: what's the real truth?

  • “Under another creator, this might be fodder for wacky domestic comedy, with the bachelor dad screwing up in ostensibly hilarious ways.”

    From the stack: Bunny Drop vol. 1

  • “Dorothy – it is interesting how James, whilst writing in ostensibly the same style, manages to create such different reading experiences with his books.”

    Reading Plans for 2009 « Tales from the Reading Room

  • “Oddly the BBC report omits to mention on a page that at least ostensibly is about Boris Johnson's visit to the Sikh New Year festival, that Boris's wife is half Sikh, her mother being Dip Singh.”

    Archive 2008-05-01

  • “Ignatieff argued that Carroll can't remain ostensibly in charge of rebuilding and unifying the party after publicly casting aspersions on the loyalty of erstwhile leadership competitors.”

    Archive 2007-05-01

  • “While young Frank Pierson revered Tom Ripley and wanted, in some sense, to become him or at least win his approval, David Pritchard arbitrarily, impulsively decides to make Tom's life a living hell, to harass him with phone calls ostensibly from Dickie Greenleaf (who has been "found and resuscitated"), and, finally, to stalk his every move.”

    This Woman Is Dangerous

  • ““Ostensibly written by a local high school student, it was the only item on a full page usually given over to teen topics and (again – ostensibly) written by and for teens,” said our reader.”

    RIAA lies and disinformation

  • “The reason for this, ostensibly, is that Windows used to do really bad things if you just flipped the power off without letting the OS shut down first.”

    Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » I Want A Hard Power Switch on My Computer

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘ostensibly’.

Comments

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  • bonnebe I prefer this word to constantly having used: apparently, evidently and seemingly... this particular word encompasses the three and has a much broader scope Jul 13, 2009

  • kewpid This is a very good filler word. Feb 12, 2008

  • sonofgroucho One of my few adverbs. Feb 12, 2008

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‘ostensibly’ has been looked up 4773 times, loved by 16 people, added to 92 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.