Talk:ostensible

RFV
RFV for the sense "alleged, having an intention that is possibly but not obviously true". I&#39;m so meta even this acronym (talk) 22:59, 29 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Widespread use, though not worded very well:
 * Even Webster 1913 has two senses:
 * Capable of being shown; proper or intended to be shown.
 * Shown; exhibited; declared; avowed; professed; apparent; -- often used as opposed to real or actual; as, an ostensible reason, motive, or aim.
 * Move to RfC. DCDuring TALK 00:48, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, those two from Webster both sound fine. The second sense in the entry, as currently written, doesn't express either of those things; indeed, I take it as describing an ulterior motive that one is accused of harbouring. I&#39;m so meta even this acronym (talk) 01:15, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I think it has come to mean something closer to the challenged definition over these past 100 years.
 * Collins online thesaurus has:
 * ostensible, adjective
 * apparent, seeming, supposed, alleged, so-called , pretended , exhibited, manifest, outward, superficial, professed, purported, avowed, specious
 * the ostensible reason for his resignation
 * It definitely can have a negative valence. DCDuring TALK 01:45, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * The synonym pretended follows from an extension of "...often used as opposed to real or actual; as, an ostensible reason, motive, or aim"; however, it is the alleged synonym that I challenge. Certainly, a person can have an ostensible motive in the sense that he pretends to have a (perhaps more moral) motive than the ulterior motive that he actually has; however, to say that a person has an ostensible motive in the sense that he is alleged to have a (perhaps immoral) motive that he has been trying to hide is catachrestic usage which runs contrary to the core "showy" sense (as in ) of the word ostensible. I&#39;m so meta even this acronym (talk) 11:27, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, alleged has the following among its three definitions at MWOnline:
 * questionably true or of a specified kind : supposed, so-called
 * 
 * If we don't have that sense, we should. DCDuring TALK 11:46, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, we have "supposed but doubtful", which seems to fit. Even if allege(d) can have that sense, I think it best to avoid the word's use in that definition, owing to the confusion it can occasion. I&#39;m so meta even this acronym (talk) 12:54, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * As for Collins online thesaurus, what it lists are near-synonyms rather than synonyms, so they do not help all that much in designing or clarifying a definition. --Dan Polansky (talk) 14:01, 17 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I ask for attesting quotations rather than the hypothesis of widespread use. Let us see what sort of quotations are supposed to match the sense. Webster 1913's "Shown; exhibited; declared; avowed; professed; apparent" seems suspect to me, as "apparent" is not really synonymous with "professed" by my lights, "professed" being more specific than "apparent". Compare to modern with its two senses; compare also, which has only one sense. --Dan Polansky (talk) 14:01, 17 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I've removed the disputed sense as RFV-failed, and added a third sense to match what other dictionaries have (with a usex showing the sort of context the sense appears in so that others can find durable citations if they wish to). - -sche (discuss) 00:13, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

vs. ostensive
Ostensible = seeming; apparent . Ostensive = clearly displaying; directly demonstrative  --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:45, 31 July 2021 (UTC)