different between spurious vs pinchbeck

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

Named after Christopher Pinchbeck, an 18th century London watchmaker who developed the alloy.

Noun

pinchbeck (usually uncountable, plural pinchbecks)

1. An alloy of copper and zinc once used as imitation gold for cheap jewelry.

Translations

Adjective

pinchbeck (comparative more pinchbeck, superlative most pinchbeck)

1. (not comparable) Made of pinchbeck.
2. Sham; spurious, artificial; being a cheap substitution; only superficially attractive.
   • 1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:

     Where, in these pinchbeck days, can we hope to find the old agricultural virtue in all its purity?

   • 1912, Esther Willard Bates, Pageants and Pageantry, page 237,

     Vain Delight must have lost her freshness, and be older and more pinchbeck.

   • 1915, Joseph Conrad, Victory, Note to the First Edition,

     The second point on which I wish to offer a remark is the existence (in the novel) of a person named Schomberg.

     That I believe him to be true goes without saying. I am not likely to offer pinchbeck wares to my public consciously.

   • 1996, John M. Sherwig, Guineas and Gunpowder: British Foreign Aid In the Wars with France, 1793-1815, page 180,

     Coming at a time when Alexander was trying desperately to halt Napoleon's advance, the British response to his call for help appeared even more pinchbeck than it was.

   • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 183:

     Anyway, at least I had created the pinchbeck crown in which Dai could place his jewel.