specious.

Seeming plausible or valid while resting on false, misleading, or inadequate grounds.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a specious argument
• specious reasoning

On the page

The specious argument depended on a comparison that collapsed under questioning.

He distrusted the explanation because it was specious, not because it was complicated.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more specious; superlative most specious where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.