sophistical
1
9.9
- adjective
- /səˈfɪstɪkəl/
- Formal
:
sofístico
- He often relied on sophistical reasoning to persuade his friends, twisting facts to support his opinions.
He gives them some other examples of sophistical things to misstate the elements of the case.
- He gives them some other examples of sophistical things to misstate the elements of the case.
Examples
-
The lawyer's argument was clever but ultimately sophistical, leading the jury to a misleading conclusion.
-
He gives them some other examples of sophistical things to misstate the elements of the case.
-
The effect, he reasoned, was to hold ordinary citizens to an unfair standard by lifting their wholesome, unadorned faith into the lofty realm of sophistical reasoning.
Academic text (2018) -
It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought, to detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant.
Academic text (1996) -
During the debate, she presented a series of sophistical claims that seemed valid but were logically flawed.
Synonyms
15
8.7
Appearing true but actually wrong
13
8.3
Making people believe things that are not true
1
9.9
Using arguments that seem true but are meant to trick
Based on wrong thinking that leads to false conclusions
Using overly clever or detailed arguments to solve moral problems
How Misleading
62
5.3
- Formal
1
9.9
- Formal
15
8.7
- Formal
13
8.3
- Formal
5
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Sophistical comes from the Greek root sophos meaning 'wise' and from teachers called sophists who used very clever words to win debates. That's why sophistical now means an argument that sounds smart but is meant to mislead.