specious

specious
specious (adj.) c.1400, "pleasing to the sight, fair," from L. speciosus "good-looking, beautiful," from species "appearance" (see SPECIES (Cf. species)). Meaning "seemingly desirable, reasonable or probable, but not really so" is first recorded 1610s.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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Synonyms:
, , , / (apparently, but not really), , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Specious — Spe cious, a. [L. speciosusgood looking, beautiful, specious, fr. species look, show, appearance; cf. F. sp[ e]coeux. See {Species}.] 1. Presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy. [1913 Webster] Some [serpents] specious… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • specious — specious, spurious Specious, like the Latin word speciosus from which it is derived, began its life meaning ‘having a fine outward appearance’ (from Latin species ‘outward form’), but in the 17c acquired the unfavourable connotations that now… …   Modern English usage

  • specious — I adjective affected, apparent, appearing, artificial, assumed, believable, bogus, casuistic, casuistical, colorable, colored, convincing, counterfeit, credible, deceiving, deceptive, deluding, delusive, delusory, erroneous, exterior, external,… …   Law dictionary

  • specious — [spē′shəs] adj. [ME, fair, beautiful < L speciosus, showy, beautiful, plausible < species, look, show, appearance: see SPECIES] 1. seeming to be good, sound, correct, logical, etc. without really being so; plausible but not genuine… …   English World dictionary

  • specious — *plausible, believable, colorable, credible Analogous words: *vain, nugatory, empty, hollow, idle: delusory, delusive, *misleading, deceptive: deceitful, *dishonest, untruthful, mendacious, lying …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • specious — [adj] misleading apparent, apparently right, beguiling, captious, casuistic, colorable, credible, deceptive, delusive, empty, erroneous, fallacious, false, flattering, hollow, idle, illogical, inaccurate, incorrect, likely, nugatory, ostensible,… …   New thesaurus

  • specious — ► ADJECTIVE 1) superficially plausible, but actually wrong. 2) misleading in appearance. DERIVATIVES speciously adverb speciousness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «beautiful»: from Latin speciosus fair, plausible …   English terms dictionary

  • specious — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) adj. plausible, ostensible, apparent, casuistic, insincere; deceptive. See falsehood, imagination.Ant., logical, sincere. II (Roget s IV) modif. Syn. plausible, credible, colorable, beguiling, deceptive …   English dictionary for students

  • specious — [[t]spi͟ːʃəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED Something that is specious seems to exist or be true, but is not real or true. [FORMAL] It is unlikely that the Duke was convinced by such specious arguments. Syn: false …   English dictionary

  • specious — adjective Etymology: Middle English, visually pleasing, from Latin speciosus beautiful, plausible, from species Date: 1513 1. obsolete showy 2. having deceptive attraction or allure 3. having a false look of truth or genuineness ; sophistic …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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