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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fal·la·cy

Audio Help [fal-uh-see] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -cies.

1.	a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.: That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy.

2.	a misleading or unsound argument.

3.	deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness.

4.	Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.

5.	Obsolete. deception.

[Origin: 1350–1400; < L fallācia a trick, deceit, equiv. to fallāc- (s. of fallāx) deceitful, fallacious + -ia -y³; r. ME fallace < MF

]

—Synonyms 1. misconception, delusion, misapprehension.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Fallacy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fal·la·cy Audio Help (fāl'ə-sē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. fal·la·cies

A false notion.
A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference.
Incorrectness of reasoning or belief; erroneousness.
The quality of being deceptive.

[Alteration of Middle English fallace, from Old French, from Latin fallācia, deceit, from fallāx, fallāc-, deceitful, from fallere, to deceive.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fallacy

1481, "deception, false statement," from L. fallacia "deception," from fallax (gen. fallacis) "deceptive," from fallere "deceive." Specific sense in logic dates from 1552.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fallacy
noun
a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
fallacy [ˈfӕləsi] noun — plural ˈfallacies

a wrong idea or belief, usually one that is generally believed to be true; false reasoning
Example: That belief is just a fallacy.

Arabic:	مَظْهَر خادِع، مُغالَطَه
Chinese (Simplified):	谬误
Chinese (Traditional):	謬誤
Czech:	omyl, klam, blud
Danish:	vildfarelse; fejlslutning
Dutch:	misvatting
Estonian:	eksikujutelm
Finnish:	harhakuvitelma
French:	sophisme
German:	der Trugschluß
Greek:	πλάνη
Hungarian:	téveszme
Icelandic:	röng hugmynd, villa
Indonesian:	kekeliruan
Italian:	sofisma

Japanese:	誤った考え
Latvian:	kļūda; maldi
Lithuanian:	klaidinga nuomonė, klaidingas įsitikinimas
Norwegian:	feilslutning, villfarelse
Polish:	błędna wiara
Portuguese (Brazil):	falácia, sofisma
Portuguese (Portugal):	falácia
Romanian:	sofism
Russian:	заблуждение
Slovak:	klam
Slovenian:	zmota, zabloda
Spanish:	falacia, sofisma
Swedish:	vanföreställning, villfarelse
Turkish:	yanılgı

See also: fallacious

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
fallacy

A false or mistaken idea based on faulty knowledge or reasoning. For example, kings who have divorced their wives for failing to produce a son have held to the fallacy that a mother determines the sex of a child, when actually the father does. (See sex chromosomes.)

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fallacy

Fail\v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed; p. pr. & vb. n. Failing.] [F. failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum, to deceive, akin to E. fall. See Fail, and cf. Fallacy, False, Fault.]

1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail.

As the waters fail from the sea. --Job xiv. 11.

Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. --Shak.

2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of.

If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size. --Berke.

3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.

When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. --Milton.

4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.

5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.]

Had the king in his last sickness failed. --Shak.

6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill expectation.

Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. --Ezra iv. 22.

Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. --Shak.

7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired; to be baffled or frusrated.

Our envious foe hath failed. --Milton.

8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.

Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not. --Milton.

9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fallacy

Fal*la"cious\, a. [L. fallaciosus, fr. fallacia: cf. F. fallacieux. See Fallacy.] Embodying or pertaining to a fallacy; illogical; fitted to deceive; misleading; delusive; as, fallacious arguments or reasoning. -- Fal*la"cious*ly, adv. -Fal*la"cious*ness, n.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fallacy

Fal"la*cy\, n.; pl. Fallacies. [OE. fallace, fallas, deception, F. fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful, deceptive, fr. fallere to deceive. See Fail.]

1. Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads the eye or the mind; deception.

Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surprised. --Milton.

2. (Logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a sophism.

Syn: Deception; deceit; mistake.

Usage: Fallacy, Sophistry. A fallacy is an argument which professes to be decisive, but in reality is not; sophistry is also false reasoning, but of so specious and subtle a kind as to render it difficult to expose its fallacy. Many fallacies are obvious, but the evil of sophistry lies in its consummate art. "Men are apt to suffer their minds to be misled by fallacies which gratify their passions. Many persons have obscured and confounded the nature of things by their wretched sophistry; though an act be never so sinful, they will strip it of its guilt." --South.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fallacy

Fal"la*cy\, n.; pl. Fallacies. [OE. fallace, fallas, deception, F. fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful, deceptive, fr. fallere to deceive. See Fail.]

1. Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads the eye or the mind; deception.

Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surprised. --Milton.

2. (Logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a sophism.

Syn: Deception; deceit; mistake.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fallacy

Fal"lax\, n. [L. fallax deceptive. See Fallacy.] Cavillation; a caviling. [Obs.] --Cranmer.

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