Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Ostensible"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ostensible \Os*ten"si*ble\, 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}.]
1. Capable of being shown; proper or intended to be shown.
[R.] --Walpole.
2. Shown; exhibited; declared; avowed; professed; apparent;
-- often used as opposed to {real} or {actual}; as, an
ostensible reason, motive, or aim. --D. Ramsay.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
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)}, {seeming(a)}]
2: represented or appearing as such; pretended; "His ostensible
purpose was charity, his real goal popularity" [syn: {ostensive}]
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