ostensible

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This organization’s ostensible goal is to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”

From Salon • Jan. 25, 2026

President Trump loves to define his ostensible political achievements and goals with big numbers.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025

But notes of disillusion sound throughout this ostensible success story.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

But the movie is more effective as a grim, involving cop thriller than it is as an ostensible statement on the Order’s reverberations in the present.

From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2024

In the following chapters we will see time and again how a dramatic increase in the collective power and ostensible success of our species went hand in hand with much individual suffering.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari