sophistic
1
9.9
- adjective
- /səˈfɪstɪk/
- Formal
:
sofístico
- ... including sophistic partisanship served up by game players with calculated, calm exteriors.
Examples
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Obama led with his sophistic argument that Romney's plan would cut taxes by $5 trillion over 10 years.
Blog text (14) -
The politician's sophistic claims were designed to mislead the voters rather than inform them.
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We play sophistic games with what to call what's in that picture, but it's unmistakably
Blog text (1) -
Stephanopoulos pulled the same sophistic stunt.
Blog text (16) -
Leaving aside the due process provisions of the 5th Amendment, how can a Justice of the SCOTUS make such a sophistic distinction?
Blog text (19) -
And so sophistic arguments are generally games for two players and there's a questioner and a respondent.
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Thus, the erotic becomes the obscene and the pornographic, while the Socratic becomes the sophistic and casuistic.
Academic text (2002) -
It describes sophistic thought, which mainly focuses on moral relativism and the concept of kairos, which is knowing exactly what is needed in a particular social structure.
Blog text (18) -
Her sophistic reasoning made it difficult to see the flaws in her argument.
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In the debate, he relied on sophistic techniques to confuse his opponents.
Synonyms
15
8.7
Appearing true but actually wrong
13
8.3
Making people believe things that are not true
1
9.9
Seeming logical but actually wrong and meant to mislead
Using overly clever or detailed arguments to solve moral problems
Antonyms
How Misleading
62
5.3
- Formal
1
9.9
- Formal
15
8.7
- Formal
13
8.3
182
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Sophistic comes from the Greek root sophia meaning 'wisdom' and from teachers called sophists who used clever, showy arguments to win debates. You can also see the same root in the word philosophy, where sophy means 'wisdom'. So sophistic now describes reasoning that sounds smart but is actually false or meant to trick.