different between spurious vs groundless

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?spj??.?i.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?spj?.?i.?s/, /?sp?.?i.?s/, /?spj?.?i.?s/
• Rhymes: -???i?s

Adjective

spurious (comparative more spurious, superlative most spurious)

1. False, not authentic, not genuine.

   His argument was spurious and had no validity.

   • 2013, Russell Brand, Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems' (in The Guardian, 13 September 2013)[1]

     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.
2. Extraneous; stray; not relevant or wanted.

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

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

3. (archaic) bastardly, illegitimate

Synonyms

• (false): counterfeit, fake, false, bogus
• See also Thesaurus:fake
• See also Thesaurus:illegitimate

Antonyms

• (false): genuine, representative

Derived terms

• spuriosity
• spuriously
• spuriousness

Translations

See also

• specious

English

Etymology

From Middle English groundles, from Old English grundl?as, from Proto-Germanic *grundulausaz, equivalent to ground +? -less. Cognate with Dutch grondeloos, German Low German grundlos, German grundlos, Danish grundløs, Swedish grundlös.

Pronunciation

Adjective

groundless (comparative more groundless, superlative most groundless)

1. Without any grounds to support it; baseless.
   • 2013, Delme Parfitt in Wales Online, Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win (3 November 2013)

     At that stage any fears among home fans of a possession monopoly by Laudrup's side were proving groundless, with Cardiff having their fair share of the ball and territory.

Derived terms

• groundlessly
• groundlessness

Translations

Anagrams

• groundsels