Spurious
adjective
Not genuine, fake or false.
He dismissed the allegation as a spurious claim.
Often appears as...
- spurious claim
- spurious allegation
adjective
Not based on truth or valid reasoning.
The reporter made spurious correlations between unrelated events.
Often appears as...
- spurious correlation
- spurious argument
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
In biology, not of natural occurrence.
The spurious wings of some insects are not used for flight.
Often appears as...
- spurious wings
- spurious hybrid
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
In statistics, a relationship between two variables that is due to their relation to a third variable.
The spurious correlation was caused by a third, unaccounted variable.
Often appears as...
- spurious correlation
- spurious relationship
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Not genuine, fake or false.
He dismissed the allegation as a spurious claim.
Often appears as...
- spurious claim
- spurious allegation
adjective
Not based on truth or valid reasoning.
The reporter made spurious correlations between unrelated events.
Often appears as...
- spurious correlation
- spurious argument
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
In biology, not of natural occurrence.
The spurious wings of some insects are not used for flight.
Often appears as...
- spurious wings
- spurious hybrid
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
In statistics, a relationship between two variables that is due to their relation to a third variable.
The spurious correlation was caused by a third, unaccounted variable.
Often appears as...
- spurious correlation
- spurious relationship
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Falseness Implication
Spurious often suggests intentional deception or a hidden motive behind something presented as legitimate.
His spurious smile hid his true intentions.
Pro Tip 2/2Disguising Authenticity
Things called spurious resemble the real ones, but lack their authenticity, and this distinction can be important.
She was fooled by the spurious diamond, which looked real.
Pro Tip 1/2Falseness Implication
Spurious often suggests intentional deception or a hidden motive behind something presented as legitimate.
His spurious smile hid his true intentions.
Pro Tip 2/2Disguising Authenticity
Things called spurious resemble the real ones, but lack their authenticity, and this distinction can be important.
She was fooled by the spurious diamond, which looked real.
Pro Tip 1/2Falseness Implication
Spurious often suggests intentional deception or a hidden motive behind something presented as legitimate.
His spurious smile hid his true intentions.
Pro Tip 2/2Disguising Authenticity
Things called spurious resemble the real ones, but lack their authenticity, and this distinction can be important.
She was fooled by the spurious diamond, which looked real.
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Video examples
Battling bad science -...
likely to be randomly false positives randomly false negatives so they will cluster together the big trials are closer to the true answer then as you go further down at the bottom what you can see is over on this side spurious false negatives and over on this side the spurious false positives if there is publication bias if small negative
Video examples
The human skills we need...
when the storms come? Anyone who tries to tell you that they know the future is just trying to own it, a spurious kind of manifest destiny. The harder, deeper truth is
Video examples
Battling bad science -...
likely to be randomly false positives randomly false negatives so they will cluster together the big trials are closer to the true answer then as you go further down at the bottom what you can see is over on this side spurious false negatives and over on this side the spurious false positives if there is publication bias if small negative
Video examples
The human skills we need...
when the storms come? Anyone who tries to tell you that they know the future is just trying to own it, a spurious kind of manifest destiny. The harder, deeper truth is
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Philip K. Dick
American Writer
We live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups. I ask, in my writing, 'What is real?' Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms.
Quote examples
Nazanin Boniadi
British Actress
I was shocked when I heard that Farghadani had been sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison on spurious charges, as Amnesty International notes, of 'spreading propaganda against the system,' 'insulting members of the parliament through paintings' and 'insulting the Supreme Leader' with her cartoon.
Quote examples
Neal Boortz
American Journalist
The House of Representatives was not designed to sit idly by and rubberstamp every piece of legislation sent their way by the Senate, especially legislation passed on a straight party line vote under the spurious policy of reconciliation.
Quote examples
Vladimir Nabokov
American Novelist
Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love letter that he received when he was young within a work of fiction, embedded in it like a clean bullet in flabby flesh and quite secure there, among spurious lives.
Quote examples
Roger Scruton
English Philosopher
Abstract ideas like equality and liberty have a spurious transparency, and can be used to derive pleasing theorems in the manner of Jean-Jacques Rousseau or John Rawls.
Quote examples
William Vickrey
Canadian Educator
Balancing a nominal budget will solve nothing, and attempting to achieve such a spurious balance will produce much mischief.
Quote examples
John le Carre
English Writer
Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.
Quote examples
Brian Greene
American Physicist
I enjoy reading blogs, but am not interested in having my spurious thoughts out there.
Quote examples
Abraham Kuyper
Dutch Theologian
Do not bury our glorious orthodoxy in the treacherous pit of a spurious conservatism.
Quote examples
Philip K. Dick
American Writer
We live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups. I ask, in my writing, 'What is real?' Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms.
Quote examples
Nazanin Boniadi
British Actress
I was shocked when I heard that Farghadani had been sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison on spurious charges, as Amnesty International notes, of 'spreading propaganda against the system,' 'insulting members of the parliament through paintings' and 'insulting the Supreme Leader' with her cartoon.
Quote examples
Neal Boortz
American Journalist
The House of Representatives was not designed to sit idly by and rubberstamp every piece of legislation sent their way by the Senate, especially legislation passed on a straight party line vote under the spurious policy of reconciliation.
Quote examples
Vladimir Nabokov
American Novelist
Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love letter that he received when he was young within a work of fiction, embedded in it like a clean bullet in flabby flesh and quite secure there, among spurious lives.
Quote examples
Roger Scruton
English Philosopher
Abstract ideas like equality and liberty have a spurious transparency, and can be used to derive pleasing theorems in the manner of Jean-Jacques Rousseau or John Rawls.
Quote examples
William Vickrey
Canadian Educator
Balancing a nominal budget will solve nothing, and attempting to achieve such a spurious balance will produce much mischief.
Quote examples
John le Carre
English Writer
Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.
Quote examples
Brian Greene
American Physicist
I enjoy reading blogs, but am not interested in having my spurious thoughts out there.
Quote examples
Abraham Kuyper
Dutch Theologian
Do not bury our glorious orthodoxy in the treacherous pit of a spurious conservatism.
Example 1 of 9
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