specious

American  

[spee-shuhs] / ˈspi ʃəs /

adjective

1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible.

   specious arguments.

   Antonyms:

   genuine

2. pleasing to the eye but deceptive.

   Synonyms:

   misleading, false

   Antonyms:

   genuine

3. Obsolete. pleasing to the eye; fair.

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specious British  

/ ˈspiːʃəs /

adjective

1. apparently correct or true, but actually wrong or false

2. deceptively attractive in appearance

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Related Words

See plausible.

Other Word Forms

• nonspecious adjective
• nonspeciously adverb
• nonspeciousness noun
• speciously adverb
• speciousness noun
• unspecious adjective
• unspeciously adverb
• unspeciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of specious

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin speciōsus “fair, good-looking, beautiful,” equivalent to speci(ēs) ( species ) + -ōsus adjective suffix; -ous

Compare meaning

How does specious compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• specious vs. spurious

Related Words

• deceptive
• erroneous
• false
• inaccurate
• incorrect
• plausible
• spurious
• untrue