Specious

adj

adj ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious.

    "This idea that we must see through what we have started is specious, however good it may sound."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of speciose (“rich in species”). alt-of, alternative

    "Coelorinchus is the most specious genus of macrourids with 122 species at the time of writing and more yet to be described."

  3. 3
    Employing fallacious but deceptively plausible arguments; deceitful.

    "With early virtues plant your breaſt, / The ſpecious arts of vice deteſt."

  4. 4
    Having an attractive appearance intended to generate a favorable response; deceptively attractive.

    "And could any thing be more ſpecious, or more equal, than that fair diſtribution of power and profit, which men called the NEW MODEL?"

  5. 5
    Beautiful, pleasing to look at. obsolete
Adjective
  1. 1
    based on pretense; deceptively pleasing wordnet
  2. 2
    plausible but false wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
insincerespuriousaffectedairyall in the mindalleged

Example

More examples

"Tom's arguments are entirely specious."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English speciose, specious, from Anglo-Norman specious, Middle French specieux, and their etymon Latin speciōsus (“good-looking”).

Etymology 2

From speci(es) + -ous.

Related phrases

specious presentspecious tiger

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.