special pleading
noun
1
: the allegation of special or new matter to offset the effect of matter pleaded by the opposite side and admitted, as distinguished from a direct denial of the matter pleaded
2
: misleading argument that presents one point or phase as if it covered the entire question at issue
Examples of special pleading in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Image In these poems reaching back before exile, Milosz seems preachier and more self-conscious than in later work — the special pleading is not special, despite the reader’s indulgent sympathies.
—
William Logan, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
But Trump’s Cabinet could also ignore special pleading by the medical establishment and fix physician payment and hypertension.
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2025
Suddenly, there is a subgenre of financial news in which bankers coolly assign probabilities to immense changes to the supply chain and adjust valuations accordingly, and executives of companies that depend upon parts from abroad emerge to issue special pleadings.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2025
For markets, this will mean frequent tactical shifts by the administration in response to corporate special pleading but no real reversal in the overall downward trend line.
—Evan A. Feigenbaum, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
Otherwise, these tools of economic statecraft are likely to be applied on an ad hoc basis and in response to special pleading.
—Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2024
Who would that be, and how would they be insulated from special pleading by powerful people?
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2024
This column seems like a shallow exercise in special pleading.
—Yuval Levin, National Review, 6 Nov. 2023
British director Steve McQueen, working from a screenplay by John Ridley, has no intention of making audiences the slightest bit comfortable with this terrible story, no interest in putting in any special pleading to bend our hearts.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2023
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William Logan, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
But Trump’s Cabinet could also ignore special pleading by the medical establishment and fix physician payment and hypertension.
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2025
Suddenly, there is a subgenre of financial news in which bankers coolly assign probabilities to immense changes to the supply chain and adjust valuations accordingly, and executives of companies that depend upon parts from abroad emerge to issue special pleadings.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2025
For markets, this will mean frequent tactical shifts by the administration in response to corporate special pleading but no real reversal in the overall downward trend line.
—Evan A. Feigenbaum, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
Otherwise, these tools of economic statecraft are likely to be applied on an ad hoc basis and in response to special pleading.
—Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2024
Who would that be, and how would they be insulated from special pleading by powerful people?
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2024
This column seems like a shallow exercise in special pleading.
—Yuval Levin, National Review, 6 Nov. 2023
British director Steve McQueen, working from a screenplay by John Ridley, has no intention of making audiences the slightest bit comfortable with this terrible story, no interest in putting in any special pleading to bend our hearts.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Special pleading.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/special%20pleading. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.
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