sophistry

[ sof-uh-stree ]

/ ˈsɒf ə stri /

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Definition of sophistry

noun, plural soph·ist·ries.

a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.

a false argument; sophism.

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Origin of sophistry

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sophistrie, (from Middle French ), equivalent to sophistre “sophist” (see sophister) + -ie -y³, from Medieval Latin sophistria , from Latin sophista, sophistes; see origin at sophist

OTHER WORDS FROM sophistry

an·ti·soph·ist·ry, noun

Words nearby sophistry

sophister, sophistic, sophisticate, sophisticated, sophistication, sophistry, sophists, Sophocles, sophomore, sophomoric, Sophonias

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sophistry in a sentence

In contrast, Justice Breyer—even when you disagree with him—treats his reader as democratic equals who deserve an actual justification, not just high-handed sophistry.
What the Supreme Court Loses With Justice Breyer's Retirement|Aziz Huq|June 30, 2022|Time
Though procedural sophistry, Gorsuch and the other justices who joined his opinion engineered the outcome Texas wanted.
Don’t be fooled: The Supreme Court’s Texas abortion decision is a big defeat for Roe v. Wade|Ian Millhiser|December 10, 2021|Vox
Unlike some of the other arguments for the filibuster, this is a valid point, not mere sophistry.
The definitive case for ending the filibuster|Ezra Klein|October 1, 2020|Vox
One of the arguments for intervention arising from the Syria strikes relies on a bit of sophistry.
What Israel's Attack Doesn't Mean For American Intervention In Syria|Ali Gharib|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The crucial thing is not that there are no forms of legal sophistry deployed in order to make these claims.
David In Wonderland|Hussein Ibish|March 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Even by the low standards of judicial sophistry, the opinion is a depressing exercise in bloviating certitude.
In Robert Bork’s Death, a Reminder of Scalia’s Inconsistency|Paul Campos|December 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The substitution of an effect for a cause is an old technique and trick of classical sophistry.
Demonization Is No Excuse|Hussein Ibish|November 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
No amount of rouge will ever camouflage rhetoric and sophistry.
Letter to a Young Critic: William Giraldi Defends True Criticism|William Giraldi|September 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In calmer moments his mind would doubtless have pierced the cheap sophistry of the Count, and discarded it.
The Everlasting Arms|Joseph Hocking
They were polished men of society; not profound nor religious, but very brilliant as talkers, and very ready in wit and sophistry.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord
I have no sophistry to shift my reasons with; but the truth I trust I have, which needs no painted colours to set her forth.
Fox's Book of Martyrs|John Foxe
That there is “sophistry,” on one side or other, is certain; but now it matters not on which.
Mary Wollstonecraft|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
It is but a mere contention—a bone, as the Persian proverb says, thrown to two dogs, a palpable piece of sophistry.
Islam Her Moral And Spiritual Value|Arthur Glyn Leonard

British Dictionary definitions for sophistry

sophistry

/ (ˈsɒfɪstrɪ) /

noun plural -ries

a method of argument that is seemingly plausible though actually invalid and misleading
the art of using such arguments

subtle but unsound or fallacious reasoning

an instance of this; sophism

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

sophistry

Definition of sophistry

Origin of sophistry

OTHER WORDS FROM sophistry

Words nearby sophistry

Words related to sophistry

How to use sophistry in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sophistry