Her ostensible reason for coming was to help, but she just wanted to gossip.

ostensible 是形容词，由拉丁语词根 ostendere（展示）演变而来，前缀 ob-（朝向）加上 tendere（伸展）。字面意思是"展示在外面的"，引申为"表面上的、假装的"。