different between specious vs futile

English

Etymology

From Latin speci?sus (“good-looking”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?spi???s/
• Rhymes: -i???s

Adjective

specious (comparative more specious, superlative most specious)

1. Seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious.

   Synonyms: fallacious, insincere

   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:

     now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.
2. Employing fallacious but deceptively plausible arguments; deceitful.
   • 1829, William Phelan, Mortimer O'Sullivan, Ireland: A digest taken before Select Committees of the two Houses of Parliament, appointed to inquire into the State of Ireland, 1824—25, in The Christian Review and Clerical Magazine, Volume III, page 472,

     But a third cause of the delusion is, that the Church of Rome has become more specious and deceitful than before the Reformation.

3. Having an attractive appearance intended to generate a favorable response; deceptively attractive.

   Synonyms: meretricious, pretextual

   • 1760, William Warburton, The Lord Bishop of Gloucester's Sermon Preached Before the Right Honourable the House of Lords, January 30, 1760, page 19,

     And could any thing be more ?pecious, or more equal, than that fair di?tribution of power and profit, which men called the NEW MODEL?

   • 1788, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 59

     This argument, though specious, will not, upon examination, be found solid.

4. (obsolete) Beautiful, pleasing to look at.

Derived terms

• specious present
• specious tiger (Asota speciosa, a species of moth)

Related terms

• speciosity
• speciously
• speciousness

Translations

See also

• spurious

Anagrams

• cosies up

English

Etymology

From Middle French futile, from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fju?.ta?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fju.ta?.?l/, /?fju.t?l/
• Rhymes: -u?t?l (US)

Adjective

futile (comparative more futile, superlative most futile)

1. Incapable of producing results; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.

Synonyms

• useless, see also Thesaurus:futile

Antonyms

• effectual
• effective
• fruitful

Related terms

• futility
• futilitarian

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fy.til/
• Rhymes: -il

Adjective

futile (plural futiles)

1. futile

Related terms

• futilité

Further reading

• “futile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

From Latin f?tilis (“futile, worthless”, literally “that easily pours out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fu.ti.le/
• Rhymes: -utile
• Hyphenation: fù?ti?le

Adjective

futile (plural futili)

1. futile, frivolous, worthless

Derived terms

• futilmente

Related terms

• futilità

Anagrams

• fluite

References

• futile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• futtile

Adverb

f?tile (not comparable)

1. in vain

Synonyms

• frustr?
• in cassum

Etymology 2

Adjective

f?tile

1. nominative neuter singular of f?tilis
2. accusative neuter singular of f?tilis
3. vocative neuter singular of f?tilis

References

• futile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• futile in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• futile in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette