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
All the effort of life, disguised as specious, distracted entertainment.
—
Leo Barraclough, Variety, 4 Aug. 2025
This is primarily due to an unbalanced shift to new generation sources requiring 24/7 backup from traditional generation sources, which were too soon taken out of service based on specious assumptions about a trace atmospheric gas.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 2 Aug. 2025
This post will attempt to separate the fundamentals of what just happened to NPR and PBS from the noise and the chaotic politics of the moment that led to the defunding — bearing in mind that there have been plenty of specious arguments and claims on both sides of the issue.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
The administration for weeks ignored a court order to bring back only to return him to prosecute him on specious old allegations.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
Leo Barraclough, Variety, 4 Aug. 2025
This is primarily due to an unbalanced shift to new generation sources requiring 24/7 backup from traditional generation sources, which were too soon taken out of service based on specious assumptions about a trace atmospheric gas.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 2 Aug. 2025
This post will attempt to separate the fundamentals of what just happened to NPR and PBS from the noise and the chaotic politics of the moment that led to the defunding — bearing in mind that there have been plenty of specious arguments and claims on both sides of the issue.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
The administration for weeks ignored a court order to bring back only to return him to prosecute him on specious old allegations.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specious
Adjective
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Despite these accounts, Day offered a very different picture in an opinion piece published by The Oregonian on Sunday, arguing that national media coverage of Portland and its police paint a misleading and outdated picture.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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The apparent protective effect of dopamine agonist drugs could also be misleading.—
Maria Morava,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Specifically, the four customers argued that Hershey's violated Florida Deceptive And Unfair Trade Practices Act, which is designed to protect Floridians from unfair competition, deceptive acts and unethical practices.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
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In recent years, users have increasingly been taking to court to challenge allegedly deceptive practices by Amazon.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Evaluating defamation claims where the report contains demonstrably false factual assertions.—
Tim Reynolds,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
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However, as several independent experts interviewed by NPR note, that claim is false.—
Scott Neuman,
NPR,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Specious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specious. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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