ostensive
/ɒsˈtɛnsɪv/adjective
ostensive is spelled O-S-T-E-N-S-I-V-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ostensive means “Apparently true, but not necessarily; ostensible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ostensive?
| Letters | 9: O-S-T-E-N-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 49 million words; the 217,360th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ostensive?
Ostensive appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ostensive?
- /ɒsˈtɛnsɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ostensive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ostensive
- more ostensive comparative
- most ostensive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ostensive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Apparently true, but not necessarily; ostensible
- 2
Clearly demonstrative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ostensive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | ostensivo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ostensive come from?
From Middle French ostensif and its etymon Late Latin ostēnsīvus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).