as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
a specious argument that really does not stand up under close examination
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Recent Examples of specious
Often, those complaints prove specious.
—
Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 13 Nov. 2025
The standard government claim that the victims were either resisting, assaulting or otherwise behaving illegally toward the agents often have been specious and contradicted by evidence.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Nov. 2025
Inside, the layout is streamlined and intuitive, with a door-in-door compartment for quick grabs, a specious full-width drawer, and a three-tier organization system in the freezer.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 29 Aug. 2025
Both comparisons are specious and serve little purpose other than to radicalize the respective bases of each party.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 13 Nov. 2025
The standard government claim that the victims were either resisting, assaulting or otherwise behaving illegally toward the agents often have been specious and contradicted by evidence.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Nov. 2025
Inside, the layout is streamlined and intuitive, with a door-in-door compartment for quick grabs, a specious full-width drawer, and a three-tier organization system in the freezer.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 29 Aug. 2025
Both comparisons are specious and serve little purpose other than to radicalize the respective bases of each party.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specious
Adjective
-
This is both obvious and a bit misleading.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
By the end of his first term, The Washington Post had documented 30,573 false or misleading claims.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Savings are only on brand names, which can be deceptive when comparing prices.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Novo has so far filed around 130 lawsuits dealing with deceptive marketing practices and consumer fraud, Kuckelman said.—
Annika Kim Constantino,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Authorities did not provide additional details about the agents' apparently false statements.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Nevertheless, Worden continued to promote the false claim to news outlets and hired a media consultant to amplify it, the documents said.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Specious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specious. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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