1
: having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophistic
specious reasoning
2
: having deceptive attraction or allure
3
obsolete
: showy
speciously
adverb
speciousness
noun
Did you know?
Specious comes from Latin speciosus, meaning "beautiful" or "plausible," and Middle English speakers used it to mean "visually pleasing." In time, specious had begun to suggest an attractiveness that was superficial or deceptive, and, subsequently, the word's neutral "pleasing" sense faded into obsolescence.
Synonyms
Examples of specious in a Sentence
Forty years ago I was not yet thirty, and my father still held to the hope that I would come to my senses, abandon the practice of journalism, and follow a career in one of the Wall Street money trades. As a young man during the Great Depression he had labored briefly as a city-room reporter for William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner, and he knew that the game was poorly paid and usually rigged, more often than not a matter of converting specious rumor into dubious fact.
—
Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, February 2004
By and large, they made these changes with specious explanations or no explanation at all. Today, when curricula list rhetoric as a subject, it usually means simply the study of how to write effectively.
—Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy, (1982) 2002
One must always guard the interests of one's constituency in the public forum even when its claims are weak or perhaps specious, lest one's opponents steal the march in the never-ending battle for resources or public support.
—Robert Jackall et al., Image Makers, 2000
He justified his actions with specious reasoning.
a specious argument that really does not stand up under close examination
Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, February 2004
By and large, they made these changes with specious explanations or no explanation at all. Today, when curricula list rhetoric as a subject, it usually means simply the study of how to write effectively.
—Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy, (1982) 2002
One must always guard the interests of one's constituency in the public forum even when its claims are weak or perhaps specious, lest one's opponents steal the march in the never-ending battle for resources or public support.
—Robert Jackall et al., Image Makers, 2000
He justified his actions with specious reasoning.
a specious argument that really does not stand up under close examination
Recent Examples on the Web
These days, those sorts of proclamations tend to feel more specious than ever.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
Media lawyers now fear that Trump will ramp up the deployment of subpoenas, specious lawsuits, court orders, and search warrants to seize reporters’ notes, devices, and source materials.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2024
The European Commission cast this arrangement as a steppingstone toward greater political unity and made the specious argument that the free-trade area could succeed only if its member countries used a single currency.
—Martin Feldstein, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012
Advertisement The next ‘Big Lie’ That brings us to 2024, when, if Trump loses, we will be inundated with false videos, firsthand stories and other specious proofs of the undocumented immigrant votes that turned the election.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for specious 
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Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
Media lawyers now fear that Trump will ramp up the deployment of subpoenas, specious lawsuits, court orders, and search warrants to seize reporters’ notes, devices, and source materials.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2024
The European Commission cast this arrangement as a steppingstone toward greater political unity and made the specious argument that the free-trade area could succeed only if its member countries used a single currency.
—Martin Feldstein, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012
Advertisement The next ‘Big Lie’ That brings us to 2024, when, if Trump loses, we will be inundated with false videos, firsthand stories and other specious proofs of the undocumented immigrant votes that turned the election.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for specious
Dictionary Entries Near specious
Cite this Entry
“Specious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/specious. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
specious
adjective
spe·cious
ˈspē-shəs 
: having a false look of being fair, just, or right
a specious argument
speciously
adverb
speciousness
noun
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