Speciously

//ˈspiːʃəsli// adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a specious manner; fallaciously and erroneously, but seeming superficially to be correct.

    "Exasperated, as he might speciously allege, by the injuries of a similar nature, he hastened with a few followers to join the standard, and to betray the confidence, of his too credulous friend."

  2. 2
    Specially.

    "I will do what I can for them all three, for so I haue promisd, and Ile bee as good as my word, but speciously for M. Fenton."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a specious manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
seemingly

Example

More examples

"Exasperated, as he might speciously allege, by the injuries of a similar nature, he hastened with a few followers to join the standard, and to betray the confidence, of his too credulous friend."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From specious + -ly.

Etymology 2

Alteration of specially, perhaps by association with specious.

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