How to Use ostensible in a Sentence

ostensible

adjective

• Once again the ostensible premise is power — its use, abuse and the fight over who gets to wield it.
  — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2023
• On top of that, there’s the ostensible reason for the partying: the films.
  — Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2022
• So much of the ostensible plot of the series is broad and so much of the execution is quite droll.
  — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2024
• The ostensible purpose of all the pageantry was to celebrate the queen’s birthday, which was in April.
  — Mark Landler, New York Times, 2 June 2022
• The ostensible reason for this is that Liza wasn’t holding the mic close enough (which doesn’t at all appear to be true).
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 June 2024
• That gave conservatives on the high court an ostensible 6-3 edge for the first time in decades.
  — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 12 May 2021
• In both cases, the ostensible purpose was to serve as a check on the integrity of the ballot.
  — Michael Wines, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023
• These are as much the subject of the book as its ostensible subject, piano lessons; these are life lessons.
  — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 6 Apr. 2022
• McAuliffe’s ostensible role on the shuttle was to teach science lessons from space.
  — Washington Post, 20 June 2021
• While the crispy, crunchy croquette of pig’s head is the ostensible star of this course, the brothy butter beans here play second fiddle to no one.
  — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2022
• This was the third election running in which Trump did as much to hurt his ostensible party as help it.
  — Robert Schlesinger, The New Republic, 16 Nov. 2022
• The ostensible point of the meeting is to share announcements, discuss the events of the week, create new rules, and greet new arrivals.
  — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2020
• Always the ostensible lessons of World War II hovered in the background.
  — Andrew J. Bacevich, The New Republic, 9 June 2020
• By the time Kurczy does return to the book’s ostensible theme, the clichés are coming fast and furious.
  — Chris Lehmann, The New Republic, 3 Sep. 2021
• The one-year anniversary this month of his death provides the ostensible hook for this followup.
  — Brian Lowry, CNN, 7 Aug. 2020
• Hours later, the event had been cancelled, with a sudden heat wave as the ostensible culprit.
  — Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2021
• The ostensible purpose of the Democratic senators’ brief is to support the city’s claims that the case is moot and should be dismissed.
  — David French, National Review, 15 Aug. 2019
• Jean-Claude Van Damme, the film's ostensible lead, has since admitted to having a drug problem at the time of filming.
  — Keith Langston and Randall Colburn, EW.com, 6 May 2023
• The ostensible purpose of Hunt’s visit to Surrey is to open a sports day and submit to a grilling from schoolchildren.
  — The Economist, 19 July 2019
• Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
  — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
• In this way, age, an ostensible blemish on the bliss of existence, becomes a form of beauty in and of itself.
  — Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Nov. 2020
• His departure leaves Jonathan Bernier, playing in the final year of a three-year contract, the Wings’ ostensible No. 1 goalie.
  — Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 2 Oct. 2020
• The aside had little to do with the ostensible purpose of the event: criminal justice reform.
  — New York Times, 8 Nov. 2019
• Every week, the shiny, ostensible purveyor of everything that was of import in the world arrived in the mail.
  — Leila Cobo, Billboard, 12 Jan. 2022
• The ostensible rationale is a contest to spend a week in the house, along with six (naturally) guests.
  — Brian Lowry, CNN, 9 Sep. 2019
• The ostensible purpose of some of these studies was to learn more about the history and genetics of the Roma people.
  — New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021
• The team’s conclusions highlight an ostensible contradiction—that the solstices align with the Pyramid of the Moon as opposed to the Pyramid of the Sun.
  — Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 July 2024
• At first, Mayor Paes was an ostensible champion of the poor.
  — Bill Donahue, Washington Post, 6 July 2020
• Take the ostensible lead, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden).
  — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2024
• The ostensible target of these attacks is the militant group Hezbollah.
  — Firas Maksad, TIME, 24 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 10 Nov 2024