specious
Use Specious in a sentence
ʃəs adjective
1.
apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
2.
pleasing to the eye but deceptive.
3.
Obsolete. pleasing to the eye; fair.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To specious
00:10
Specious
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is flippant. Does it mean:
| frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity: |
| to ridicule |
Collins
World English Dictionary
specious (ˈspiːʃəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | apparently correct or true, but actually wrong or false |
| 2. | deceptively attractive in appearance |
| [C14 (originally: fair): from Latin speciōsus plausible, from speciēs outward appearance, from specere to look at] | |
| 'speciously | |
| —adv | |
| 'speciousness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
| Main Entry: | specious1 |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | showily beautiful or attractive |
| Etymology: | Latin specissus 'beautiful, plausible' |
| Main Entry: | specious2 |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | plausible but not true; based on pretense; sophistic |
| Etymology: | Latin specissus 'beautiful, plausible' |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
specious
c.1400, "pleasing to the sight, fair," from L. speciosus "good-looking, beautiful," from species "appearance" (see species). Meaning "seemingly desirable, reasonable or probable, but not really so" is first recorded 1612.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
True humility alone could discover the snare which lurked under the specious gloss of holy charity.
Through its appeal to tax reduction, it has a specious attraction.
The idea that shooting some wolves will automatically bolster prey population is specious.
His application to adjudge the defendant in contempt is in addition specious.
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