specious
seemingly plausible but actually misleading
Roots
- -ous / -ious: full of or marked by a quality
- spec / spic: look or see
Other words with the spec / spic root
- circumspect: cautious and careful
- conspicuous: easy to notice or clearly visible
- inspection: careful looking or examination
- perspicacious: keenly perceptive
- perspicacity: keenness of understanding or insight
- spectacle: something striking to see
- spectacles: glasses used for seeing
Specious means good-looking on the surface but misleading underneath.
The specious shortcut sounded clever until the practice test exposed it.
Specious is the dangerous side of appearance. It does not look obviously false; that is the trick. A perspicacious reader sees through what a specious argument shows on the surface.