specious : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: specious	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for specious
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
specious adj plausible but false; "a specious claim"; "spurious inferences" Synonym(s): specious, spurious based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; "the gilded and perfumed but inwardly rotten nobility"; "meretricious praise"; "a meretricious argument" Synonym(s): gilded, meretricious, specious
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Specious \Spe"cious\, a. [L. speciosusgood-looking, beautiful, specious, fr. species look, show, appearance; cf. F. sp[82]coeux. See {Species}.] 1. Presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy. Some [serpents] specious and beautiful to the eye. --Bp. Richardson. The rest, far greater part, Will deem in outward rites and specious forms Religion satisfied. --Milton. 2. Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible; as, specious reasoning; a specious argument. Misled for a moment by the specious names of religion, liberty, and property. --Macaulay. In consequence of their greater command of specious expression. --J. Morley. Syn: Plausible; showy; ostensible; colorable; feasible. See {Plausible}. -- {Spe"xiously}, adv. -- {Spe"ciousness}, n.