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spurious definition

spu·ri·ous (spyo̵or′ē əs, spʉr′-)

adjective

  1. Now Rare illegitimate; bastard
  2. not true or genuine; false; counterfeit
  3. Bot. like in appearance but unlike in structure or function
  4. Radio designating or of an unwanted signal transmitted or received at other than the desired frequency

Etymology: L spurius, illegitimate (in LL, false), orig., a bastard < Etr

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

medical spurious definition - medical

spurious Synonyms

spurious

modif.

counterfeit, apocryphal, deceptive; see artificial 1, false 2, 3. See syn. study at artificial.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

spurious Usage Examples

Infinitive complement

  • argue: It is spurious to argue that a new agenda will have short term economic benefits.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: But the cost of living is much lower in Africa, making such comparisons somewhat spurious.

Modifies a noun

  • oscillation: The numerical method then must be able to handle discontinuities without introducing non-physical, spurious oscillations.

Modifying Another Word

  • utterly: The legal authority claimed for the Norms was therefore utterly spurious.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: For a format that seemed so spurious in conception and then initially vague upon realization, I'm a Celebrity.. .
spurious usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"spurious." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/spurious>

APA Style

spurious. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/spurious

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