Dubious vs Specious - What's the difference?
dubious | specious |
Arousing doubt; questionable; open to suspicion.
* 2011 , Nigel Jones, "A Tale of Two Scandals", History Today , February 2011, Vol. 61 Issue 2, pages 10–17
In disbelief; wavering, uncertain, or hesitating in opinion; inclined to doubt; undecided.
* 2010 , John M. Broder, "Global Climate-Change Talks Begin in Cancun With More Modest Expectations", New York Times , November 30, Section A, Column 0, Foreign Desk, page 12
Seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious.
*1776 , Thomas Paine,
*:I have frequently amused myself both in public and private companies, with silently remarking, the specious errors of those who speak without reflecting.
Having an attractive appearance intended to generate a favorable response; deceptively attractive.
(obsolete) Beautiful, pleasing to look at.
As adjectives the difference between dubious and specious
is that dubious is arousing doubt; questionable; open to suspicion while specious is seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious.dubious
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- After he made some dubious claims about the company, fewer people trusted him.
- Evasive, womanising, boastful, malicious, untrustworthy, an inveterate gambler who combined his mediocre military career with running a high-class brothel, permanently cash strapped and viciously quarrelsome, his character is as dubious as his unsavoury appearance.
- She was dubious about my plan at first, but later I managed to persuade her to cooperate.
- Last year, President Obama had large majorities in Congress and hopes of passing a comprehensive climate and energy bill. Next year, he faces a new Congress much more dubious about the reality of climate change and considerably more hostile to international efforts to deal with it.
Derived terms
* dubious honor / dubious honour * dubiously * dubiousnessSee also
*specious
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- This idea that we must see through what we have started is specious , however good it may sound.