spurious

What it means

1. False, not authentic, not genuine.

   His argument was spurious and had no validity.

   3 more examples

   I was also supposed to quiz my various companions on a number of important matters, such as nostalgia, fear of unknown animals, food-fantasies, nocturnal emissions, hobbies, choice of radio programs, changes in outlook and so forth. Everybody got so fed up with this that I soon dropped the project completely, and only toward the end of my twenty months of cold labor (as one of the botanists jocosely put it) concocted a perfectly spurious and very racy report that the reader will find published in the Annals of Adult Psychophysics for 1945 or 1946, as well as in the issue of Arctic Explorations devoted to that particular expedition; which, in conclusion, was not really concerned with Victoria Island copper or anything like that, as I learned later from my genial doctor; for the nature of its real purpose was what is termed “hush-hush,” and so let me add merely that whatever it was, that purpose was admirably achieved.

   1955 September 15, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, Paris: The Olympia Press […], →OCLC

   We witness that there is a relationship between government, media and industry that is evident even at this most spurious and superficial level. These three institutions support one another. We know that however cool a media outlet may purport to be, their primary loyalty is to their corporate backers. We know also that you cannot criticise the corporate backers openly without censorship and subsequent manipulation of this information.

   2013 September 13, Russell Brand, “Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems'”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2023

   [Ilhan] Omar was left twisting in the wind earlier this year after facing spurious charges of antisemitism, a display of Democratic cowardice co-signed by Chelsea Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and most every other Democrat with a congressional leadership position.

   2019 July 19, Noah Kulwin, “Democrats Fail the Left, Once Again”, in Jewish Currents, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2023

   Synonyms: counterfeit, fake, false, bogus

2. Extraneous, stray; not relevant or wanted.

   I tried to concentrate on the matter in hand, but spurious thoughts kept intruding.

   1 more example

   Spurious emissions from the wireless mast were causing nearby electrical equipment to go haywire.

3. archaicBastardly, illegitimate.

   […] who alſo in her prime of love, Spouſal embraces, vitiated with Gold, Though offer’d only, by the ſent conceiv’d Her ſpurious firſt-born; Treaſon againſt me?

   1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 29, lines 389-392

In a sentence

His argument was spurious and had no validity.

Where it comes from

1. Late Latinspurius“illegitimate, bastardly”
2. Englishspurious

Borrowed from Late Latin spurius (“illegitimate, bastardly”), possibly related to sperno or from Etruscan.