Nota: La traducción de esta entrada está actualmente en revisión de calidad, por lo que parte del contenido se muestra temporalmente solo en inglés.
Esta entrada aún no se ha traducido a tu idioma, así que se muestra el original a continuación.
ostensibly
This term functions as a signal to the reader that a discrepancy exists between a public claim and a private reality. It carries a skeptical or suspicious undertone, suggesting that the stated reason is a facade or a strategic cover for a hidden agenda. It is most frequently employed in formal writing, political analysis, or legal contexts to highlight hypocrisy or deception.
Because it describes the appearance of a situation rather than a physical quality, it is used to frame an entire proposition. It differs from "apparently" in that "apparently" suggests the speaker is basing their belief on available evidence, whereas "ostensibly" explicitly implies that the evidence is misleading or incomplete.
Meanings
Examples
The meeting was ostensibly about budget cuts but the real goal was to fire the manager.
He visited the city ostensibly for a vacation although he was actually tracking a suspect.
She is ostensibly happy with her new job but I can tell she is miserable.
The new law was ostensibly designed to protect privacy while actually increasing surveillance.
I am ostensibly here to help you with your homework.
They are ostensibly allies but they secretly despise each other.
The company ostensibly cares about the environment but they keep polluting the river.
Why is he ostensibly acting so nice all of a sudden?