as in ambiguity
reasoning or arguments that sound correct but are actually false
She said that many of the points made during the debate were pure sophistry.
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Recent Examples of sophistry
And if Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta try to point it out before Manchester City faces Arsenal on Sunday, it will be viewed as gamesmanship, or deflection, or unapologetic sophistry.
—
Rory Smith, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Amid the verbal sophistry of recent months, it’s become increasingly clear that actions speak far louder.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 23 Dec. 2023
Many of Khan’s progressive allies have floated a much more realistic cure for Khan’s abysmal litigation track record: to rewrite antitrust laws in Congress, where laws are made, instead of losing case after case in court with tortured legalistic sophistry and ad hoc judicial rulemaking.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 7 Dec. 2023
Dickie, a student at Trinity College, wanders into a club debate, where he’s bewitched by the quicksilver sophistry of one of his peers, Willie, who is openly gay.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for sophistry
Rory Smith, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Amid the verbal sophistry of recent months, it’s become increasingly clear that actions speak far louder.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 23 Dec. 2023
Many of Khan’s progressive allies have floated a much more realistic cure for Khan’s abysmal litigation track record: to rewrite antitrust laws in Congress, where laws are made, instead of losing case after case in court with tortured legalistic sophistry and ad hoc judicial rulemaking.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 7 Dec. 2023
Dickie, a student at Trinity College, wanders into a club debate, where he’s bewitched by the quicksilver sophistry of one of his peers, Willie, who is openly gay.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for sophistry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sophistry
Noun
-
In reality, for decades Netanyahu has upheld Israel's policy of ambiguity.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
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Human creativity thrives in ambiguity and adaptive thinking.—
Sarat Chakravarthi,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Interestingly, men, not women, were more open to benevolent deception.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
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The movie, with Baranov as its scoundrel tour guide, works its way through some of 21st century Russia’s greatest hits of deception.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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There are no sections that go entirely unloved by our staff, but some favorites include literary fiction, cookbooks, sci fi and fantasy and all things kids' books.—
American Booksellers Association,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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Such subtlety may not necessarily be what readers—perhaps American readers, in particular—expect from political fiction, which can have a reputation for being didactic and heavy-handed, designed to beat readers over the head, as if anything political were made in the mode of Soviet realism.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sophistry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sophistry. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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