specious
seemingly plausible but actually false or misleading
Word origin: From Latin speciosus, fair in appearance.
Specious in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing specious in a sentence.
His specious argument crumbled under closer examination.
The proposal rested on a specious analogy that fell apart as soon as the figures were examined.
Using “specious” well
Specious describes something that seems plausible or attractive on the surface but is actually false or misleading. The deceptive appearance of soundness is the key idea.
More GRE words starting with S
to deliberately damage or obstruct something, especially in secret
an intensely sweet, calorie-free artificial sweetener
excessively sweet or sentimental in a cloying way
regarded as too important or sacred to be altered or criticized
having keen practical judgment and discernment
soundness of judgment and acuteness of discernment
most noticeable or important; standing out prominently
of a sickly yellowish or pale complexion
Questions about “specious”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.