ostensible

/ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/

//ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ostensible" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ostensible” is uncommon English (frequency #53,151 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,151
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Apparent, evident; meant for open display.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ostensible · ostensible · English

ostensible · rank #53,151 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,151
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH overactive

Nearest frequency peer: overactive (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “ostensible”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ostensible” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ostensible
PropertyValue
Headwordostensible
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/
Letters10
Frequency rank#53,151
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ostensible” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ostensiblefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “overactive” (#53,152), “Oregonian” (#53,149), “paves” (#53,156). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “ostensible” is #53,151. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ostensible is uncommon English at frequency #53,151 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ostensible, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French ostensible, formed with the suffix -ible, from Latin ostensus, the past participle of ostendō (“show”), itself from obs- (“in front of”) (akin to ob- (“in the way”)) + tendō (“stretch”) (akin to Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō)). Cf. also Me… The correct English form is ostensible, spelled O-S-T-E-N-S-I-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Apparent, evident; meant for open display.
  2. 2
    Appearing as such; being such in appearance; professed, supposed (rather than demonstrably true or real).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ostensible appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Motives, of course, may be mixed; but this only means that a man aims at a variety of goals by means of the same course of action. Similarly a man may have a strong motive or a weak one, an ulterior motive or an ostensible one.
  2. In witch-trials the conflict was officially defined as between the accused and God, or between the accused and the Catholic (later Protestant) church, as God's earthly representative. […] Behind the ostensible conflict of the witch-trial lay the usual conflicts of social class, values, and human relationships.

Etymology

Borrowed from French ostensible, formed with the suffix -ible, from Latin ostensus, the past participle of ostendō (“show”), itself from obs- (“in front of”) (akin to ob- (“in the way”)) + tendō (“stretch”) (akin to Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō)). Cf. also Medieval Latin ostensibilis.

Antonyms

ulterior

This word in other languages

ostensible(Español)ostensible(Français)anscheinend(Deutsch)aparente(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ostensible"?
"ostensible" is spelled O-S-T-E-N-S-I-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/.
What does "ostensible" mean?
As an adjective, "ostensible" means: Apparent, evident; meant for open display.
How do you pronounce "ostensible"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ostensible" is /ɒˈstɛns.ɪ.bəl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ostensible"?
Borrowed from French ostensible, formed with the suffix -ible, from Latin ostensus, the past participle of ostendō (“show”), itself from obs- (“in front of”) (akin to ob- (“in the way”)) + tendō (“stretch”) (akin to Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō)). C... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ostensible", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

overactive#53,152numismatic#53,144nihilistic#53,135pickpocket#53,168

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list