Definition of SPECIOUS (original) (raw)
1
: having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophistic
2
: having deceptive attraction or allure
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
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
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.
Kennedy’s skill at flooding his audiences with specious claims that sound logical or highbrow was on full display during his 2023 interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan. —Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2025 The specious comparison of women’s beach volleyball to football is not how a proper Title IX analysis works. —Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 17 Jan. 2025 But Kirkwood and director Sarah Benson leave no room for such a specious critique. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 12 June 2024 These days, those sorts of proclamations tend to feel more specious than ever. —Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for specious 
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
Time Traveler
The first known use of specious was in 1513
Dictionary Entries Near specious
Cite this Entry
“Specious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/specious. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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Last Updated: 31 Jan 2025 - Updated example sentences
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