7 December 2014
ostensible
[o-sten-suh-buh l]
adjective
1. outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended:
an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.
2. apparent, evident, or conspicuous:
the ostensible truth of their theories.
Origin
French, Latin
1720-1730; < French < Latin ostēns (us), variant of ostentus (see ostensive ) + French -ible -ible
Related forms
ostensibly, adverb
nonostensible, adjective
nonostensibly, adverb
unostensible, adjective
unostensibly, adverb
Can be confused
ostensible, ostensive.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for ostensible
– ostensibly preparing for the north, he secretly planned for the south.
– ostensibly, the restrictions are designed to control illegal logging and related activities.
– In both instances, the company is using my personal data ostensibly to better to serve me, but really to make a buck.
Anagram
sensible to
belies tons
besets loins
bile stones
noble site
best noises
bite lesson
tense boils
Today’s aphorism
The safety of the people shall be the highest law.
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
On this day
7 December 43BC – death of Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes Anglicised as Tully), Roman statesman, politician, philosopher, orator. Tully’s influence on Latin and other European languages was immense and still felt up to the 19th century. The history of prose in Latin and other languages was said to be either a reaction against, or a return to, his style. Born 3 January 106BC .
7 December 1941 – bombing of Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The bombing was a major tactical victory for Japan and led to the United States entering World War II. The USA suffered 2403 deaths, including 68 civilians, and 1178 wounded. Japan lost 64 lives.
7 December 1941 – At the same time as Pearl Harbour, Japan attacked British and Australian forces in Malaysia and Singapore, British forces in Hong Kong and US forces in the Philippines. British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill declared war on Japan as a result. Singapore fell to Japan on 15 February 1942. US General Douglas MacArthur escaped the Philippines in March 1942 as the country fell to Japan. He relocated his headquarters to Brisbane, Australia, and became the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Pacific, with forces from the United States, Australia, Netherlands, Britain and other countries coming under his command.
7 December 1987 – USSR President Mikael Gorbachev arrives in the USA for an arms control summit with US President Ronald Reagan. The summit resulted in the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty (INF) which called for elimination of all cruise and ballistic missiles and launchers in Europe that had a range of 320 to 3,400 miles. This was one of the most significant arms treaties of the Cold War.
7 December 1988 – An earthquake registering 7.2 on the richter scale, completely destroys the Armenian city of Spitak, in the Soviet Union, killing 50,000.
7 December 2001 – the Taliban regime surrenders 61 days after commencement of US-led war in Afghanistan.