A Topical Dictionary: Search for specious

Dictionary Results For "specious" [?]/[OPML]

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English

Etymology

From speciosus|speciōsus "good-looking".

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈspiːʃəs/
An audio transcript can be found at en-us-specious.ogg

Adjective

Seemingly well-reasoned or factual, but actually fallacious or insincere.
: This idea that we must see through what we have started is specious, however good it may sound.
Having an attractive appearance intended to generate a favorable response; deceptively attractive.
beautiful|Beautiful, pleasing to look at.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Croatian: varav, prividan, tobožnji, lažan

French: {{t|fr|spécieux|m}}, {{t|fr|spécieuse|f}}
German: vordergründig, fadenscheinig, unfundiert, leer

io:specious ru:specious fi:specious te:specious vi:specious

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English 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 and beautiful to the eye.
--Bp.
Richardson.
[1913 Webster]

The rest, far greater part,
Will deem in outward rites and specious forms
Religion satisfied. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

2. Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct,
but not so in reality; appearing well at first view;
plausible; as, specious reasoning; a specious argument.
[1913 Webster]

Misled for a moment by the specious names of
religion, liberty, and property. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]

In consequence of their greater command of specious
expression. --J. Morley.
[1913 Webster]

Syn: Plausible; showy; ostensible; colorable; feasible. See
Plausible.
[1913 Webster] -- Spe"xious*ly, adv. --
Spe"cious*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet specious
adj 1: plausible but false; "specious reasoning"; "the spurious
inferences from obsolescent notions of causality"-
Ethel Albert [syn: spurious]
2: plausible but false; "a specious claim"
3: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; "the gilded and
perfumed but inwardly rotten nobility"; "meretricious
praise"; "a meretricious argument" [syn: gilded, meretricious]

Moby Dictionary
Barmecidal , Barmecide , airy , alleged , apparent , apparently sound ,
apparitional , autistic , avowed , beguiling , casuistic , chimeric ,
claimed , colorable , colored , conceivable , deceptive , delusional ,
delusionary , delusive , delusory , dereistic , disingenuous ,
dreamlike , dreamy , empty , erroneous , fallacious , false , fantastic ,
gilded , hollow , hypocritical , idle , illogical , illusional ,
illusionary , illusive , illusory , imaginary , in name only ,
inaccurate , incorrect , insincere , jesuitic , likely , meretricious ,
misleading , nugatory , ostensible , overrefined , oversubtle ,
phantasmagoric , phantasmal , phantom , philosophistic , plausible ,
possible , presumable , presumed , pretended , pretexted , professed ,
purported , seeming , self-deceptive , self-deluding , so-called ,
sophistic , sophistical , spectral , spurious , superficial , supposed ,
supposititious , tinsel , unactual , unfounded , unreal , unsound ,
unsubstantial , untrue , vain , visionary , wrong