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.

Like that movie, “Remake” has an ostensible central subject that becomes a mere frame for his actual one.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

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

And leaders with the ostensible authority to drive systemic change have been “managed out” before being given the chance to do much of anything.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 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

By the time the weary marchers trudged into Jackson, the furor over Black Power had eclipsed discussion of voter registration, the march’s ostensible purpose.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson