casuistry

American  

[kazh-oo-uh-stree] / ˈkæʒ u ə stri /

noun

casuistries plural

1. specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry.

2. the application of general ethical principles to particular cases of conscience or conduct.

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casuistry British  

/ ˈkæzjʊɪstrɪ /

noun

1. philosophy the resolution of particular moral dilemmas, esp those arising from conflicting general moral rules, by careful distinction of the cases to which these rules apply

2. reasoning that is specious, misleading, or oversubtle

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• casuistries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of casuistry

First recorded in 1715–25; casuist + -ry

Explanation

Casuistry is argumentation that is suspect and sneaky. Politicians, lawyers, and car salesmen who make dubious arguments full of holes are guilty of casuistry. Save this word for when you want to put down somebody else's line of reasoning: it refers to subtle but specious argumentation. It was formed from casuist (along the lines of sophistry and foolery), which can mean one who engages in such reasoning, though it originally meant someone who resolves doubtful cases by the application of principles. Casuistry is used to bamboozle people, so steer clear of those who practice it!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

casuistry casuistries

This casuistry didn’t save him from a painful trial before a “denazification” court after the war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

His decision for the court, handed down on Wednesday, is an incoherent mess of contradiction and casuistry, a travesty of legal writing that injects immense, gratuitous confusion into the law of equal protection.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2025

Hill's casuistry is all too common in memoirs written by or for statesmen seeking to sanitize their own blunders and lies.

From Salon ● May 8, 2021

It is, they argue, based on casuistry, which gets a bad rap but historically was the idea that the ethics of a situation are based on the specifics of the actual case.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 16, 2018

Cicero might hear discussed our closest questions of social casuistry, yet think as proudly of his Offices, and his Republic, as he ever did while a resident upon earth.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol IV. No. XX. January, 1852. by Various

It happened in Solnechnogorsk, 35 miles from Moscow and a world away from the casuistries of capitalism.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bella shuddered at the words, and Sonnenkamp exclaimed,— "O Bella! noble soul, alone great among women, cast away all these European casuistries; with a single step put this whole, old-maidish Europe behind you!"

From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Auerbach, Berthold

Under the instruction of the Countess's director the boy's conscience was enervated by the casuistries of Liguorianism and his devotion dulled by the imposition of interminable "pious practices."

From The Valley of Decision by Wharton, Edith

Priestly arrogance and unctuousness, and trickeries and casuistries, cannot be painted without our discovering a likeness in the long Italian gallery.

From Complete Short Works of George Meredith by Meredith, George

The intricate casuistries of the Jesuits are unfolded in the gravest fashion and without the least exaggeration or burlesque, but with a running comment or rather insinuation of sarcasm which is irresistible.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George