What is the meaning of specious?

adjective

  • Plausible but false.
    • usage: "a specious claim"; "spurious inferences"
  • Based on pretense; deceptively pleasing.
    • usage: "the gilded and perfumed but inwardly rotten nobility"; "meretricious praise"; "a meretricious argument"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
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APAWordNet. (2010). specious. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/specious/definitions/1184078
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "specious" http://smartdefine.org/specious/definitions/1184078 (accessed September 20, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, specious, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/specious/definitions/1184078>.
MLAWordNet. "specious" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/specious/definitions/1184078>
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