speciousadj.
/ˈspiːʃəs/, U.S. /ˈspiʃəs/ 1. Fair or pleasing to the eye or sight; beautiful, handsome, lovely; resplendent with beauty. ? Obsolete.
a. Of persons, their parts, etc., or of things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective]
faireOE
comelyOE
winlyOE
goodlyOE
hendya1250
hendc1275
quaintc1300
seemlyc1305
tidya1325
avenant1340
honestc1384
sightya1387
properc1390
well beseena1393
queema1400
speciousa1400
featousc1400
parisantc1400
rekenc1400
well-favoureda1438
wellc1450
spectable?a1475
delicatec1480
jollya1500
bonny?a1513
snog1513
viewlyc1536
goodlikec1550
sightly1555
sightful1565
beholdinga1586
eyesome?1587
decent1600
vage1604
prospicuous1605
eyely1614
fashionable1630
well-looking1638
softa1643
fineish1647
well-looked1660
of a good (also ugly, etc.) look1700
likely-looked1709
sonsy1720
smiling1725
aspectable1731
smirkya1758
likely-looking1771
respectable1776
magnificent-looking1790
producible1792
presentable1800
good-looking1804
nice-looking1807
bonnyish1855
spick1882
eyeable1887
aegyo2007
(a)
(b)1402 Polit. Poems (Rolls) II. 98 The pore man at the specious ȝate praiede to the apostlis to parten of her almes.c1440 Gesta Romanorum viii. 20 That oþer [way] specius and faire, sett aboute withe lileis and Rosis.1582 Bible (Rheims) Acts iii. 10 He which sate for almes at the Specious gate of the temple.1621 R. Brathwait Shepheards Tales 10 Smooth to the touch, and specious to the sight.1651 J. French Art Distillation vi. 192 So will the Spirit..be coloured with a very specious blue colour.1697 J. Aubrey Brief Lives (1898) I. 77 The great Cardinal Richelieu, who lived both to designe and finish that specious towne of Richelieu.1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iii. §23. 108 When any object partakes of the abovementioned qualities, or of those of beautiful bodies, and is withal of great dimensions; it is full as remote from the idea of mere beauty. I call it fine or specious.in extended use.c1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 628 To me itt is a Ioye most speceows.1632 P. Massinger Emperour of East i. ii. sig. B3v Your specious titles Cannot but take her.a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxiii. 146 Heil ful of grace, eke Speciouse at al, Mayden wys and þerto Meke.
c1450 (?c1425) St. Elizabeth of Spalbeck in Anglia (1885) 8 115 Hir chere semiþ þen ful specyous and cleer & gracyous.
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. Clxxxiiii Specyous & beautyfull is he, aboue all the chylder of men.
1626 T. Hawkins tr. N. Caussin Holy Court I. 45 Nicephorus relateth certaine lineaments of his stature, colour and proportion of his members,..in all parts louely and specious.
1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 265 Yet the wise men of Greece were not ashamed to pursue specious boyes.
a1670 J. Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 422 There is thy Saviour..looking like a specious Bridegroom.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xvi. 99 Disagreeable only as another man has a much more specious person.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xvii. 547 Gods! how illiberal with that specious form!
1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets i. 21 The Greek statues are little else than specious forms.
b. Of flowers, birds or their feathers, etc. In later use, having brilliant, gaudy, or showy colouring. Also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > [adjective]
smickerc725
faireOE
lieflyOE
sheenOE
wenlichc1000
wlitic1000
lovesomec1175
lustya1240
flourisheda1375
lovelya1400
weenc1400
beauteous1435
beautifulc1443
finec1450
pulchriousa1500
speciousa1513
shanda1525
speciosea1525
pulchrousc1540
bonny1580
beauty1598
lovelike1621
killing1634
florid1642
beautied1830
stunning1849
fairsome1862
pulchritudinous1877
beaut1894
loverly1907
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > garishly coloured
speciousa1513
'skyring1724
noisy1725
rory-torya1794
flary1841
roary1866
jazzy1917
(a)
(b)1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 287 It can set up specious feathers on the crown of its head like a crest.1694 Philos. Trans. 1693 (Royal Soc.) 17 996 There be other sorts of Goldfinches variegated with red, orange and yellow Feathers, very specious and beautiful.1786 S. Goodenough in Mem. Sir J. E. Smith (1832) I. 184 Bees, several new ones, one very specious indeed.1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 603 Specious Mackrel, Scomber Speciosus.1809 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. ii. 364 Specious Jay, Corvus speciosus. Crested green Jay.a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xxxii. sig. l.vv This rutilant gemme and specious floure [sc. the body of St. Werburge].
a1637 B. Jonson Under-woods xii. 20 in Wks. (1640) III And adde his Actions unto these, They were as specious as his Trees.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1684) 93 Successive acquists of fair and specious Plants.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Saxifraga The fourth Sort is propagated for the Sake of its specious Flowers.
?1799–1801 H. C. Andrews Botanist's Repository II. Pl. LXXXVII This truly specious Ixia.
1812 S. Edwards New Bot. Garden I. 29 The corolla specious, and purple in colour.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 265 The novice in botany, who is attracted, perhaps, only by what is specious in the plant or flower.
2. absolute.1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe Ep. Ded. But somewhat of Specious they must have, to recommend themselves to Princes.
a. Having a fair or attractive appearance or character, calculated to make a favourable impression on the mind, but in reality devoid of the qualities apparently possessed.In certain contexts passing into the sense ‘merely apparent’.
ΚΠ
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus i. 16 Their actions, although neuer so good in themselues, neuer so specious vnto others,..yet are abhominable vnto God.
a1644 F. Quarles Judgem. & Mercy (1646) 102 Let not the specious goodnesse of the end encourage mee to the unlawfulnesse of the meanes.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 23 A smooth pretence Of specious love, and duty to their Prince.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 264 The most specious Instances,..such as Martyrdom,..are no necessary Proofs of Charity.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. ii. i. 4 The specious Means, the private Aims,..how fatal to the Roman State!
1774 T. Reid Brief Acct. Aristotle's Logic iv. §2, in Ld. Kames Sketches Hist. Man II. iii. 203 The friends of Aristotle have shewn, that this improvement of Ramus is more specious than useful.
1807 G. Crabbe Birth Flattery in Poems 194 What are these specious Gifts, these paltry Gains.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 599 It appeared that this plan, though specious, was impracticable.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens II. x. v. 179 What was done by him in Rome was merely specious.
b. Of pretences, pretexts, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [adjective]
fairOE
seeming1340
feignedc1374
colourablea1400
whitea1413
coloured?c1425
satiablec1487
provable1588
specious1611
well-seeminga1616
superficial1616
meretricious1633
glosseda1640
probable1639
spurious1646
fucatious1654
ostensible1762
well-looking1811
semblant1840
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. viii. 499/2 Traiterous requests..which he was now willing to maske with the specious pretext of iustice and deuotion.
1632 Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 478 The specious pretences you made.
1734 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) III. 546 Notwithstanding the specious and ample Professions made by the Governor of Maryland.
1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V III. x. 254 The specious pretexts, which had formerly concealed his ambitious designs.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. 4 Cimon seized this specious pretext for exterminating the people.
c. Of appearance, show, etc.
ΚΠ
a1628 J. Preston Treat. Effectual Faith 74 in Breast-plate of Faith (1631) There be many works that have a specious and faire shew in the view of men; But..God regards them not.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. iv. 289 The Law..being neglected or disesteemed, under what Specious shews soever.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. vi. 97 A Discovery..which they..have found out through all the specious Appearances to the contrary.
1735 W. Somervile Chace ii. 313 To rob, and to destroy, beneath the Name And specious Guise of War.
a1827 W. Wordsworth Sonn. to Liberty ii. vi. 10 Ere wiles and politic dispute Gave specious colouring to aim and act.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 231 A policy which had a specious show of liberality.
1870 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (1877) iv. 74 We have even in the early Christian Church that specious display of gifts which put aside as secondary the more solid part of religion.
d. Of falsehood, bad qualities, etc.
ΚΠ
1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing xii. 108 Such an Infinite of uncertain opinions, bare probabilities, specious falshoods.
1682 N. Tate & J. Dryden 2nd Pt. Absalom & Achitophel 29 Who Truth from specious falshood can divide [etc.].
1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) ii. 68 If not to some peculiar end assign'd, Study's the specious trifling of the mind.
1749 W. Melmoth Lett. by Sir Thomas Fitzosborne II. lii. 63 Religion without this sovereign principle [generosity], degenerates into slavish fear, and wisdom into a specious cunning.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward II. vii. 169 In whose eyes the sincere devotion of a heathen is more estimable than the specious hypocrisy of a Pharisee.
1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve I. v. 98 Be not ensnared by specious deceit.
3. absolute.a1850 J. C. Calhoun Wks. (1874) III. 274 To this it may be traced, that the Senator prefers the specious to the solid, and the plausible to the true.
a. Of language, statements, etc.: Fair, attractive, or plausible, but wanting in genuineness or sincerity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [adjective] > of words, statements
queemc1175
gayc1425
plausible1565
glib1603
plausivea1616
specious1651
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxi. 110 It is an easy thing, for men to be deceived, by the specious name of Libertie.
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 371 The Prince,..by an evident demonstration, confuting specious words.
1670 A. Marvell Let. 8 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 113 This motion seemed specious & welcome to the Committee.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 469. ¶5 Gratifications, Tokens of Thankfulness, Dispatch Money, and the like specious Terms.
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 230 She then imparted the specious tale of the Marquis's loss at the gaming-table.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 568 The meaning latent under this specious phrase.
1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. v. v. 325 The specious language of Philip's former letters.
b. Of reasoning, arguments, etc.: Plausible, apparently sound or convincing, but in reality sophistical or fallacious.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > [adjective]
fallacious?1473
sophistical1483
Jesuitish1602
sophistic1605
Jesuitical1613
Jesuitic1640
casuistical1648
specious1651
casuistic1660
casual1672
fine-drawn1681
scholastic1700
scholasticated1772
verbalistic1879
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xv. 73 This specious reasoning is neverthelesse false.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iv. xxvi. 310 For the establishing of Vacuum, many & specious arguments and experiments have been brought.
1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xix. 8 To sooth their fears a specious reason feign.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall IV. xliv. 378 A specious theory is confuted by this free and perfect experiment.
1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ iv. 232 Many subtle and specious objections are urged.
1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 23 Undoubtedly it is robust good sense which is here brought to bear upon a specious sophism.
1877 J. C. Geikie Life & Words Christ I. xxvii. 442 He was not led away by such suggestions, however specious.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [adjective] > seeming or apparent
huedc1000
showing?c1400
seemlya1450
apparissaunt1485
superficial1616
specious1617
semblable1627
apparent1645
representative1646
skin-deep1653
appearing1656
seemingly1725
semblative1814
semblant1840
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 64 The Lord Deputie conceived the Earles surprise to bee an evill more spetious then materiall.
5. Of material things: Outwardly or superficially attractive or pleasing, but possessing little intrinsic worth; showy. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > flashiness or gaudiness > [adjective] > tawdry
tinsel1595
gingerbread1631
tawdry1676
frippish1787
tinselly1811
specious1816
gingerbready1845
foofaraw1848
twopence coloured1859
tarty1918
tartish1929
tatty1940
1816 J. Reynolds Char. Painters of Italy 136 [Michael Angelo] has rejected all the false, though specious ornaments, which disgrace the works even of the most esteemed artists.
1825 T. B. Macaulay Milton in Edinb. Rev. Aug. 338 We shall, like Bassanio in the play, turn from the specious caskets.., and fix our choice on the plain leaden chest.
6. Of persons: Characterized by conduct, actions, or reasoning, of a specious nature; †outwardly respectable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [adjective] > of persons
specious1740
plausible1860
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxxi. 217 But now I have found you out, you specious Hypocrite.
1798 Anti-Jacobin 9 July 283/2 If Vice appal thee..Yet may the specious bastard brood, which claim A spurious homage under Virtue's name,..rouse thee..!
1799 W. Gilpin Serm. v. 54 I propose next to describe that of the specious or decent man. By the decent man, I mean him, who governs all his actions by appearances.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xl. 166 You are a specious fellow..and carry two faces under your hood.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 May 5/1 If we were to sum up similarly in one word the chief characteristics of their German rival, we should say that Von Hartmann was specious.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [adjective] > written or designated by figures > numbers rather than letters > letters rather than numbers
specious1670
1670 J. Collins Let. in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men 17th Cent. (1841) (modernized text) I. 154 A design to cause Diophantus to be turned into specious algebra.
1673 J. Kersey Elem. Algebra I. i. i. 2 Algebra is by late Writers divided into two kinds; to wit, Numeral, and Literal, (or Specious).
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Algebra In 1590, Vieta..introduc'd what he call'd his Specious Arithmetick, which consists in denoting the Quantities, both known and unknown, by Symbols or Letters.
8. Psychology. Appearing to be actually known or experienced.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > mental action or process > [adjective] > seemingly known or experienced
specious1890
1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. 642 We are constantly conscious of a certain duration—the specious present—varying in length from a few seconds to probably not more than a minute.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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