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Another word for specious

Adjective

  1. Containing fundamental errors in reasoning

    2. See also:

    true

    correct

  2. Devoid of truth

    3. See also:

    true

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Synonym Study

  • Credible is used of that which is believable because it is supported by evidence, sound logic, etc. a credible account
  • Plausible applies to that which at first glance appears to be true, reasonable, valid, etc. but which may or may not be so, although there is no connotation of deliberate deception a plausible argument
  • Specious applies to that which is superficially reasonable, valid, etc. but is actually not so, and it connotes intention to deceive a specious excuse
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • This argument is rather specious than sound.

  • William of Orange was not deceived by the specious temporizing of the king.

  • It was for her sake, he said, that the Greeks and Barbarians fought, deluding themselves with an image of truth, for the real being was then present with the First God.3 By such specious allegories and Grecian fables Simon deceived many, while at the same time he astounded them by his magic. A description is given of how he made a familiar spirit for himself by conjuring the soul out of a boy and keeping his image in his bedroom, and many instances of his feats of magic are given.

  • In 1850 his power of specious argument won back to him his Chicago constituents who had violently attacked him for not opposing the Fugitive Slave Law.

  • The rush of the Mahommedan flood sent terror all over Europe, but the little opposition it encountered south of the Pyrenees is to be easily explained, and the victory, though genuine, was more specious than substantial.

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Words that mention specious in the Dictionary

Words near specious in the Thesaurus