specious

adjective

spe·​cious ˈspē-shəs 

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

• beguiling
• deceitful
• deceiving
• deceptive
• deluding
• delusive
• delusory
• fallacious
• false
• misleading

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 on the Web

Here’s a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. —Ali Swenson, Twin Cities, 14 July 2024

Instead, conservative judges at every level of the judiciary — including at the Supreme Court — rejected Trump’s specious arguments. —David French, The Mercury News, 10 July 2024

It was quickly rejected on the specious grounds that the documents are exempted by the attorney client privilege and being attorney work product, when neither applies. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2024

But that patience is wearing thin, as Ankara has repeatedly failed to respond to Washington’s concerns—chief among them right now the imprisonment of Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina, on specious terrorism charges. —Amanda Sloat, Foreign Affairs, 30 July 2018

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, visually pleasing, from Latin speciosus beautiful, plausible, from species

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 3

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Kids Definition

specious

adjective

spe·​cious ˈspē-shəs 

: having a false look of being fair, just, or right

a specious argument

speciously adverb

speciousness noun