spurious
pronunciation
How to pronounce spurious in British English:
UK [ˈspjʊəriəs]
How to pronounce spurious in American English:
US [ˈspjʊriəs]
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- Adjective:
- plausible but false
- born out of wedlock
- intended to deceive
Word Origin
- spurious (adj.)
- 1590s, "born out of wedlock," from Latin spurius "illegitimate, false" (source also of Italian spurio, Spanish espurio), from spurius (n.) "illegitimate child," probably from Etruscan spural "public." Sense of "having an irregular origin, not properly constituted" is from c. 1600; that of "false, sham" is from 1610s; of writing, etc., "not proceeding from the source pretended, 1620s. Related: Spuriously; spuriousness.
Example
- 1. Certainly that is a motive and certainly the concern that eating genetically modified crops is dangerous to one 's health is spurious .
- 2. In the year that popeye became once again a major movie star it is salutary to recall that his claims for spinach are spurious .
- 3. Us presidential hopefuls should openly celebrate the us relationship with asia , not hide behind a screen of spurious economic nationalism for the sake of a few blue-collar votes .
- 4. Most people are misled in this regard by the inappropriate terminology of present-day political language the spurious distinction between left-wing parties and right-wing parties .
- 5. Everything from passing satellites and tumbling space junk to ground-based radar and even the ignition systems of nearby cars can generate spurious radio waves that confuse the software .