specious

specious
I
(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)
adj. plausible, ostensible, apparent, casuistic, insincere; deceptive. See falsehood, imagination.Ant., logical, sincere.
II
(Roget's IV) modif.
Syn. plausible, credible, colorable, beguiling, deceptive, misleading, ostensible, meretricious, sophistical, casuistic, probable, presumable, presumptive, likely, apparent, apparently right, seemingly just, hypocritical, fallacious, unsound.
Ant. valid, unlikely, incredible.
Syn.- specious applies to that which is superficially reasonable, valid, etc. but is actually not so, and it connotes intention to deceive [ a specious excuse ] ; 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 ] ; credible is used of that which is believable because it is supported by evidence, sound logic, etc. [ a credible account ]
III
(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) (VOCABULARY WORD) a.
[SPEE shus]
plausible but invalid, having only the appearance of the truth.
Lawyers are adept at putting forth specious arguments.
SYN.: plausible, sophistic, seeming, conceivable, possible, misleading, credible, unsound, ostensible, deceptive, fallacious.
ANT.: true, valid, unquestionable, genuine
IV
(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Containing fundamental errors in reasoning: fallacious, false, illogical, invalid, sophistic, spurious, unsound. See CORRECT, TRUE. 2. Devoid of truth: counterfactual, false, spurious, truthless, untrue, untruthful, wrong. See TRUE.

English dictionary for students. 2013.

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Synonyms:
, , , / (apparently, but not really), , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Specious — Spe cious, a. [L. speciosusgood looking, beautiful, specious, fr. species look, show, appearance; cf. F. sp[ e]coeux. See {Species}.] 1. Presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy. [1913 Webster] Some [serpents] specious… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • specious — specious, spurious Specious, like the Latin word speciosus from which it is derived, began its life meaning ‘having a fine outward appearance’ (from Latin species ‘outward form’), but in the 17c acquired the unfavourable connotations that now… …   Modern English usage

  • specious — I adjective affected, apparent, appearing, artificial, assumed, believable, bogus, casuistic, casuistical, colorable, colored, convincing, counterfeit, credible, deceiving, deceptive, deluding, delusive, delusory, erroneous, exterior, external,… …   Law dictionary

  • specious — [spē′shəs] adj. [ME, fair, beautiful < L speciosus, showy, beautiful, plausible < species, look, show, appearance: see SPECIES] 1. seeming to be good, sound, correct, logical, etc. without really being so; plausible but not genuine… …   English World dictionary

  • specious — (adj.) c.1400, pleasing to the sight, fair, from L. speciosus good looking, beautiful, from species appearance (see SPECIES (Cf. species)). Meaning seemingly desirable, reasonable or probable, but not really so is first recorded 1610s …   Etymology dictionary

  • specious — *plausible, believable, colorable, credible Analogous words: *vain, nugatory, empty, hollow, idle: delusory, delusive, *misleading, deceptive: deceitful, *dishonest, untruthful, mendacious, lying …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • specious — [adj] misleading apparent, apparently right, beguiling, captious, casuistic, colorable, credible, deceptive, delusive, empty, erroneous, fallacious, false, flattering, hollow, idle, illogical, inaccurate, incorrect, likely, nugatory, ostensible,… …   New thesaurus

  • specious — ► ADJECTIVE 1) superficially plausible, but actually wrong. 2) misleading in appearance. DERIVATIVES speciously adverb speciousness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «beautiful»: from Latin speciosus fair, plausible …   English terms dictionary

  • specious — [[t]spi͟ːʃəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED Something that is specious seems to exist or be true, but is not real or true. [FORMAL] It is unlikely that the Duke was convinced by such specious arguments. Syn: false …   English dictionary

  • specious — adjective Etymology: Middle English, visually pleasing, from Latin speciosus beautiful, plausible, from species Date: 1513 1. obsolete showy 2. having deceptive attraction or allure 3. having a false look of truth or genuineness ; sophistic …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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