as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
a specious argument that really does not stand up under close examination
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Recent Examples of specious
The case was resolved on Jan. 13 of this year when the judge dismissed de Blasio’s specious case in an 81-page ruling.
—
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 May 2025
Inside, the layout is streamlined and intuitive, with a door-in-door compartment for quick grabs, a specious full-width drawer, and a three-tier organization system in the freezer.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 11 Apr. 2025
But the finer points of theories that Joey is anti-TDE grow specious, rooted in the same confirmation bias that populates the loftier reviewed Genius annotations.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025
An odd digression into the origins of Mormonism recalls the specious race-and-crime history in Killers of the Flower Moon, which gave us DeNiro’s most repulsive characterization to date, a portrait as revealing as Dorian Gray’s.
—Armond White, National Review, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 May 2025
Inside, the layout is streamlined and intuitive, with a door-in-door compartment for quick grabs, a specious full-width drawer, and a three-tier organization system in the freezer.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 11 Apr. 2025
But the finer points of theories that Joey is anti-TDE grow specious, rooted in the same confirmation bias that populates the loftier reviewed Genius annotations.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025
An odd digression into the origins of Mormonism recalls the specious race-and-crime history in Killers of the Flower Moon, which gave us DeNiro’s most repulsive characterization to date, a portrait as revealing as Dorian Gray’s.
—Armond White, National Review, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specious
Adjective
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The suit alleges excessive fees resulting in high annual percentage rates, deceptive tipping practices and misleading consumers about the voluntary nature of fees.—
AJ Dhaliwal,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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Mayes seeks to dissolve both companies, citing violations of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and deceptive practices targeting underage customers.—
Jose R. Gonzalez,
AZCentral.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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He’s hosted several world leaders for explosive Oval Office sit downs, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who Trump argued with over false claims that white farmers in the country were victims of a genocide, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.—
Sara Dorn,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
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In November 2009, Richard pleaded guilty to the latter charge, while Mayumi pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities, per CNN.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
15 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Specious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specious. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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