Search Result for "ostensible": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (2)

1. appearing as such but not necessarily so;
- Example: "for all his apparent wealth he had no money to pay the rent"
- Example: "the committee investigated some apparent discrepancies"
- Example: "the ostensible truth of their theories"
- Example: "his seeming honesty"
[syn: apparent(a), ostensible, seeming(a)]

2. represented or appearing as such; pretended;
- Example: "His ostensible purpose was charity, his real goal popularity"
[syn: ostensible, ostensive]



The 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]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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]