ostensible motive - Wordage.info - Free Thesaurus Tool for Word Discovery - Expanded Thesaurus, Reverse Dictionary Lookup

alibi collapse: (law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question; exonerate by means of an alibi

smoke screen collapse: an action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure; "requesting new powers of surveillance is just a smokescreen to hide their failures"; (military) screen consisting of a cloud of smoke that obscures movements

mainspring collapse: the most important spring in a mechanical device (especially a clock or watch); as it uncoils it drives the mechanism

apology collapse: a poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"; an expression of regret at having caused trouble for someone; "he wrote a letter of apology to the hostess"; a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly

pretense collapse: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending"; imaginative intellectual play; pretending with intention to deceive

sake collapse: a reason for wanting something done; "for your sake"; "died for the sake of his country"; "in the interest of safety"; "in the common interest"; the purpose of achieving or obtaining; "for the sake of argument"; Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice; usually served hot

veil collapse: to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; "women in Afghanistan veil their faces"

facade collapse: the face or front of a building; a showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something unpleasant

excuse collapse: a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"; a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; "he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"; excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"; serve as a reason or cause or justification of; "Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"; "Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again"; grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class"; ask for permission to be released from an engagement; accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands"

pretension collapse: a false or unsupportable quality; the advancing of a claim; "his pretension to the crown"; "the town still puts forward pretensions as a famous resort"

feint collapse: any distracting or deceptive maneuver (as a mock attack); deceive by a mock action; "The midfielder feinted to shoot"

provocation collapse: needed encouragement; "the result was a provocation of vigorous investigation"

lodestar collapse: something that serves as a model or guide; guiding star; a star that is used as a reference point in navigation of astronomy

phantasmagoric collapse: characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions; "a great concourse of phantasmagoric shadows"--J.C.Powys; "the incongruous imagery in surreal art and literature"

transitional collapse: of or relating to or characterized by transition; "adolescence is a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood"

subterfuge collapse: something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity; "he wasn't sick--it was just a subterfuge"; "the holding company was just a blind"

semblance collapse: an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading; "he hoped his claims would have a semblance of authenticity"; "he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction"; "the situation soon took on a different color"

guise collapse: an artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"

ambition collapse: a strong drive for success; a cherished desire; "his ambition is to own his own business"; have as one's ambition

momentum collapse: the product of a body's mass and its velocity; "the momentum of the particles was deduced from meteoritic velocities"; an impelling force or strength; "the car's momentum carried it off the road"

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