apparent: suggests appearance to unaided senses that is not or may not be proven by more rigorous examination or greater knowledge: the ~ cause of the train wreck.
illusory: implies a false impression based on deceptive resemblance or faulty observation, or influenced by emotions that prevent a clear view: the ~ happiness of a new infatuation. （infatuation迷恋热恋无法正常思考strong love or passion for something making one unable to think clearly or sensibly，如his infatuation with bullfighting他迷恋斗牛）
seeming: implies a character in the thing observed that gives it the appearance, sometimes through intent, of something else: the ~ simplicity of the story.
ostensible: suggests a discrepancy between an openly declared or logically implied aim or reason and the true one: business was the ~ reason for their visit. (discrepancy差异不相符:本应相同的事物有差异a difference between two things that should be the same，如the discrepancy between press and radio reports新闻和广播报道之间的出入)
apparent看似: 表示表面上感觉是，但未经检查证明，illusory虚幻: 指虚假的印象，由于虚假外表、错误观察或强烈情绪，seeming看似: 表示表面上感觉是，但其实不是（对比apparent是”未经检查证明”，seeming是否定），ostensible表面上谎称的: 表示公开宣称暗指的与事实不相符
记忆方法：1) 首字母AISO看起来像ALSO<==看似
2) 看似的意思是和外表不符mean not actually being what appearance indicates. |
