spurious

[ spyoor-ee-uhs ]

adjective

1. not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.

   Synonyms: deceitful, meretricious, phony, feigned, mock, bogus, sham, false

   Antonyms: genuine

2. Biology. (of two or more parts, plants, etc.) having a similar appearance but a different structure.
3. of illegitimate birth; bastard.

spurious

/ ˈspjʊərɪəs /

adjective

1. not genuine or real
2. (of a plant part or organ) having the appearance of another part but differing from it in origin, development, or function; false

   a spurious fruit

3. (of radiation) produced at an undesired frequency by a transmitter, causing interference, etc
4. rare.
   illegitimate

Derived Forms

• ˈspuriously, adverb
• ˈspuriousness, noun

Other Words From

• spuri·ous·ly adverb
• spuri·ous·ness noun
• non·spuri·ous adjective
• non·spuri·ous·ly adverb
• non·spuri·ous·ness noun
• un·spuri·ous adjective
• un·spuri·ous·ly adverb
• un·spuri·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of spurious¹

1590–1600; < Latin spurius bastard, perhaps < Etruscan; -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of spurious¹

C17: from Latin spurius of illegitimate birth

Example Sentences

Previous approaches have sometimes included spurious variables such as the presence of graffiti or demographic data, which can easily lead models to make flawed associations based on racial or socioeconomic criteria.

From Singularity Hub 

I was disappointed, as spurious signals do crop up occasionally due to telescope calibration errors, Earth’s ionosphere reflecting TV signals, or aircraft and satellites streaking overhead.

From Singularity Hub 

She was thrown in jail last year under spurious circumstances after her website refused to tow Duterte’s line.

From The Daily Beast

Part of an effective rebuttal to such malicious positions may come from extending our understanding of racism to include the anecdotal, spurious and pseudoscientific birth of these ideas centuries ago.

From Time

President Obama repeated the spurious gender wage gap statistic in his State of the Union address.

From The Daily Beast

As the day progressed, it seemed the misinformation on the internet was growing exponentially spurious by the minute.

From The Daily Beast

A spurious, wrong-headed idea that spreads virally and poisons public discourse.

From The Daily Beast

With more than 360,000 people, a resurrected New Orleans stands out in high relief from the spurious values of the Tea Party.

From The Daily Beast

She was aware how often spurious communications followed the death of a public figure.

From The Daily Beast

After l. 479 Thynne inserts And thus in sorowe lefte me alone; it is spurious; see note.

From Project Gutenberg

And, at the same time, he began to bulk rather large in his own eyes with a certain spurious importance.

From Project Gutenberg

"Certainly not, Mr. Gilbert Rushmere," drawing herself up, with a withering air of spurious dignity.

From Project Gutenberg

He was unjustly accused of an attempt to impose upon the world a spurious volume of letters and papers in the name of Shakspeare.

From Project Gutenberg

Whilst earnestly endeavoring to acquire true politeness, avoid that spurious imitation, affectation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bogus
• false
• phony
• specious