eristic

adjective

variants also eristical
Definition of eristicnext
as in sophistic

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for eristic
  1. sophistic
  2. irrational
  3. misleading
  4. specious
  5. illogical
  6. unreasonable
  7. fallacious
  8. nonrational
Adjective
  • The characters are treated with odd touches of realism and their sophistic arguments are stingingly psychologized.
    — Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 8 Sep. 2017
Definition of sophistic
Adjective
  • Their ideas about it were often steeped in stereotypes suggesting that Buddhists were irrational and childish in their thinking.
    — Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 7 July 2026
  • Scammers often use isolation tactics in phone calls to panic the listener and rush them into making irrational choices that often have financial costs.
    — Ella Moore July 2, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee released a report this week criticizing the president and Freedom 250, accusing it of diverting funds and misleading sponsors.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 3 July 2026
  • The charge alleges a person knowingly defrauded another by using false or misleading information to obtain money, property, credit or a loan.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of misleading
Adjective
  • In the world of wellness and health content, few areas of our anatomy attract more interest lately — and specious claims — than the gut microbiome.
    — Will Stone, NPR, 22 June 2026
  • In fairness, concluding no one cares is a specious take, at best, based on the evidence Tuesday.
    — Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 10 June 2026
Definition of specious
Adjective
  • Their complaints have been mostly incoherent and illogical, with UEFA's statement in particular being laughably inaccurate.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 July 2026
  • In spite of D'Arcy's best efforts, Rhaenyra is an impenetrable character with illogical choices and zero magnetism to the viewers (or seemingly, her councilors).
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 21 June 2026
Definition of illogical
Adjective
  • His certification is temporarily suspended due to excessive or unreasonable force from the incident, according to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
    — Theresa Clift, Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026
  • Your request for back-to-back weeks off at the last minute is unreasonable.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 3 July 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • There is a widespread but fallacious perception that India's tariffs are inordinately high.
    — Mohan Kumar, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Aug. 2025
  • The same economists who believe in the same fallacious economic notions?
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
Definition of fallacious
Adjective
  • Mid-century collective behavior theories considered social movements to be nonrational, spontaneous events occurring during moments of social and cultural breakdown.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of nonrational
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

ergo
eristic
ermine
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Eristic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eristic. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on eristic

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about eristic

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tacit

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All