OSTENSIVELY Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

ostensively

adverb

as in seemingly

to all outward appearances he stops by his old office periodically, ostensively just to say "hi"

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for ostensively

Adverb

With Hjobjerg seemingly having turned Newcastle down and Palhinha appearing likely to move elsewhere, Ross Wilson, the club’s sporting director, is exploring alternative midfield options.

— Chris Waugh, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Even seemingly small details, like an owl carved into the hospital’s columns, carry deeper meaning.

— Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of seemingly

Adverb

Because apparently groceries need to be accelerated urgently.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2026
Clancy then ingested prescription medication, slashed her wrists and neck with a knife, and apparently threw herself head first out of a second-story window, resulting in permanent paralysis from the sternum down.

— Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of apparently

Adverb

Diplomacy is ostensibly still underway — Pakistan’s leader is due in Iran today, Oman’s foreign minister tomorrow — and Iran’s politicians have called for an end to war with the US.

— Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 24 Aug. 2026
No one seems bothered that nearly everyone has an Aussie accent, despite this film ostensibly unfolding 100 miles away from Los Angeles (the film was shot in Queensland).

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of ostensibly

Adverb

What also rang true for me was the way that, in the course of the season, Deborah said no to so many of the ideas her writers had supposedly submitted.

— Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
The drone boat itself supposedly carried explosives, according to Miruță’s comments, as reported by Reuters.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of supposedly

Adverb

It was evidently lost amid the flood of congratulatory messages that arrived on campus that day, and Calhoun didn’t remember it.

— Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York.

— Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of evidently

Adverb

Yet, on TikTok, on Threads, and, presumably, in innumerable group texts, a contrarian consensus has flourished.

— Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026
That is, as my colleague David Hudnall wrote a day earlier, presumably to avoid a petition forcing a public vote.

— Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of presumably

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ostensive

ostensively

ostentation

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“Ostensively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ostensively. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of ostensively

adverb

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