specious

adjective spe·cious \ ˈspē-shəs \

Updated on: 19 May 2018

Definition of specious

1 obsolete : showy

2 : having deceptive attraction or allure

3 : having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophistic

specious reasoning

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speciously

adverb

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speciousness

noun

See specious defined for English-language learners

See specious defined for kids

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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

Recent Examples of specious from the Web

Iran, which considers Israel an illegitimate country, has called Israel’s accusations specious and has blamed Israeli operatives for attacks inside Iran, notably the assassinations of five nuclear scientists, mostly by car bombs.

— isabel kershner, New York Times, "Iran Fires Rockets Into Golan Heights From Syria, Israelis Say," 9 May 2018
For Nazi observers, this was evidence that America was evolving in the right direction, despite its specious rhetoric about equality.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "How American Racism Influenced Hitler," 23 Apr. 2018
Bennett’s superior pedigree, perhaps combined with the specious nature of the case, made the release of Bennett unthinkable.

— marcus hayes, Philly.com, "Eagles should have given Daryl Worley a chance | Marcus Hayes," 15 Apr. 2018
Ah, yes, the rock star, the species (and often specious) petra stella, in the Latin.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "'Birdland' at Steep: You're treated like a god, people throw themselves at you — what does it mean to be a rock star?," 6 Apr. 2018
Trump based his volcanic campaign on the specious notion that this imbalance costs American jobs.

— charlie campbell / beijing, Time, "China Hits Back at Trump's Trade Tariffs With $50 Billion Hike on U.S. Goods," 4 Apr. 2018
The stage is set for a courtroom melodrama crawling with straw-man atheists, pseudo-introspective laments and specious arguments concerning the separation of church and state.

— justin chang, latimes.com, "A Christian critic wrestles with new biblical films and the hope of a better 'faith-based' cinema," 30 Mar. 2018
The promise was specious and the FBI, in this particular case, couldn't care less about Mr. Schrier as a human being.

— Fox News, "Former hostage: FBI sacrificed my safety to track terrorists," 26 Mar. 2018
Yet the politicians who dignify it with specious arguments are making fools of themselves and harming America.

— The Economist, "LexingtonA lesson in American greatness," 1 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'specious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Appearances can be deceptive. "Things are not always as they seem." Like these familiar proverbs, the word specious attests that English speakers can be a skeptical lot when it comes to trusting outward appearances. Specious traces to the Latin word speciosus, meaning "beautiful" or "plausible," and Middle English speakers used it to mean "visually pleasing." But by the 17th century, specious had begun to suggest an attractiveness that was superficial or deceptive, and, subsequently, the word's neutral "pleasing" sense faded into obsolescence.