Ostensibly (Adverb)
Meaning
From appearances alone; "irrigation often produces bumper crops from apparently desert land"; "the child is seemingly healthy but the doctor is concerned"; "had been ostensibly frank as to his purpose while really concealing it"-Thomas Hardy; "on the face of it the problem seems minor".
Examples
- The new policy was ostensibly designed to benefit all employees, but many suspected it was just a cost-cutting measure.
- The politician's speech was ostensibly about the economy, but it was clear he was campaigning for re-election.
- The company's ostensibly eco-friendly packaging was revealed to be nothing more than a marketing ploy.
- The tourists visited the village, which was ostensibly untouched by modern civilization, but they soon discovered it was a carefully constructed illusion.
- The scientist's ostensibly groundbreaking research was later discredited as flawed and inconclusive.