speciously

spe·cious

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [spee-shuh s]
- /ˈspi ʃəs/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [spee-shuh s]
- /ˈspi ʃəs/

Definitions of speciously word

adjective speciously apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments. 1
adjective speciously pleasing to the eye but deceptive. 1
adjective speciously Obsolete. pleasing to the eye; fair. 1

See all 3 definitions of speciously

Information block about the term

Origin of speciously

First appearance:

before 1350

One of the 20% oldest English words

1350-1400; Middle English < Latin speciōsus fair, good-looking, beautiful, equivalent to speci(ēs) (see species) + -ōsus -ous

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Speciously

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Speciously

speciously popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 70% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

speciously usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for speciously

adv speciously

apparently — You use apparently to indicate that the information you are giving is something that you have heard, but you are not certain that it is true.
intuitively — perceiving directly by intuition without rational thought, as a person or the mind.

adverb speciously

baselessly — In a baseless way.
deceptively — apt or tending to deceive: The enemy's peaceful overtures may be deceptive.
erroneously — In an erroneous manner.
fallaciously — In a fallacious manner, erroneously, illogically.
illogically — In an illogical manner, without following methods of sane and correct reasoning, in a manner lacking thought or logic.

All 9 Synonyms of speciously