facile
7
8.4
- adjective
- /ˈfæsaɪl/
:
simplista
- Perhaps to speak of the need to deconstruct the body is too facile a characterization of the position one is describing.
- facile assumption
- facile generalization
- facile answer
Examples
-
His own writings on philosophical and moral questions were mostly facile and cleverly satirical.
Academic text (1993) -
There are no facile answers to the problems associated with ensuring the rights of minorities.
Academic text (1990) -
Maybe I was being too facile with my answers.
Fiction book (1994) -
The facile story is that the US, with the help of Britain, organized the coup.
-
But Marshall recognized that the problem could not be settled in such a facile way.
Academic text (1990) -
Hunger, unemployment, and personal insecurity require more than just facile or temporary solutions.
Academic text (1993) -
Indeed, this study cautions against facile assumptions about either civil society or political parties in promoting citizen participation.
Academic text (1999) -
Male drug smugglers also present a complex mosaic that belies facile stereotypes.
Academic text (2008) -
If the preceding critique has validity, one implication seems clear: pluralists should drop their too-facile assertions of sameness.
Academic text (2007) -
Many political debates often end with facile conclusions that overlook the underlying issues.
Synonyms
91
4.7
Very smooth and attractive but not sincere or deep
61
6.0
To treat a difficult problem as too simple and misleading
40
6.6
Clever on the surface but not deep
1
9.9
Seeming logical but actually wrong and meant to mislead
Antonyms
Compounds
- Formal
A simple idea about why something happened that misses important facts
How Superficial
Surface Forms
Etymology
Facile comes from the Latin facilis meaning 'easy', and so it can describe an idea or answer that seems too simple. That's why a facile explanation feels 'easy' but is often shallow because it ignores the real problems.