Does ostensibly make sense in this sentence?
An ostensibly perfect world destroys itself
What I'm trying to convey is
A so-called perfect world destroyed itself
But so-called is not very academic.
Thanks in advance!
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Sign up to join this communityDoes ostensibly make sense in this sentence?
An ostensibly perfect world destroys itself
What I'm trying to convey is
A so-called perfect world destroyed itself
But so-called is not very academic.
Thanks in advance!
Ostensibly does make sense here, but its meaning, although close to that of so-called, is not quite the same. As can be seen from Gwendolyn's comment, ostensibly is largely synonymous with apparently; the first sentence thus implies that the world appeared perfect, but it does not imply that anybody ever called it perfect. On the other hand, so-called in the second sentence makes it imply that people in fact used the word perfect to characterize the world, but it does not imply that they actually regarded is as perfect (they could have been using the word insincerely).