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The classical Latin adjective spurius started out as a word meaning "illegitimate." In the days of ancient Rome, it was sometimes even used as a first name for illegitimate offspring (apparently with no dire effects). There was a certain Spurius Lucretius, for example, who was made temporary magistrate of Rome. In less tolerant times, 18th-century English writer Horace Walpole noted that Henry VII "came of the spurious stock of John of Gaunt." Today, we still use spurious to mean "illegitimate," but the more common meaning is "false" (a sense introduced to spurious in Late Latin). Originally our "false" sense emphasized improper origin, and it still often does ("a spurious signature"), but it can also simply mean "fake" or "not real."

Examples of spurious in a Sentence

One reiterated theme of his book is that the electoral process can be the most dangerous of delusions, tending to confer a spurious legitimacy on those most willing to corrupt it. — Hilary Mantel, New York Review, 21 Sept. 2006 Of all the potentially spurious phrases regularly found lurking on book jackets, none should be approached with greater wariness than "This is his first novel." — Tony Early, New York Times Book Review, 30 Apr. 2000 I have no special interest in defending modern finance theory, but I think it is important to get this straight, lest Soros's own ideas acquire spurious validity as a practical corrective to academic moonshine. — Robert M. Solow, New Republic, 12 Apr. 1999 a spurious Picasso painting that wouldn't have fooled an art expert for a second claimed that the governor's election-year enthusiasm for conservation was spurious, since he had cut funding for state parks

Recent Examples on the Web Instead, states like Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee prefer to focus on transgender athletes, demonizing them as some sort of spurious group plotting the downfall of women's sports. — Paul Newberry, Star Tribune, "Column: Trans athletes not an issue but discrimination real," 27 Mar. 2021 Both Fauci and Birx were often standing beside or behind Trump when the former president made spurious claims about the virus. — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, "Former US Surgeon General defends Birx in tweets following CNN special report," 29 Mar. 2021 Instead, states like Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee prefer to focus on transgender athletes, demonizing them as some sort of spurious group plotting the downfall of women's sports. — Paul Newberry, Star Tribune, "Column: Trans athletes not an issue but discrimination real," 27 Mar. 2021 Instead, states like Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee prefer to focus on transgender athletes, demonizing them as some sort of spurious group plotting the downfall of women's sports. — Paul Newberry, ajc, "Column: Trans athletes a non-issue but discrimination real," 26 Mar. 2021 Russian operators used troll farms in Ghana, Mexico and Nigeria to promote spurious claims of fraud related to mail-in voting, allege irregularities in the voting process and accuse the Democratic Party of voter fraud, the report said. — Tribune News Service, oregonlive, "U.S. intelligence report says Putin OK’d operation aimed at boosting Trump in 2020 election," 17 Mar. 2021 While ranchers grumble that many wolf kills are overlooked, and wolf supporters accuse ranchers of making spurious or exaggerated claims, the payouts do lessen the financial hardship of wolf depredations, if not the anger and frustration. — Morgan Heim, Smithsonian Magazine, "The Wolf That Discovered California," 16 Mar. 2021 But as numerous courts have already signaled in response to a volley of spurious lawsuits filed by Trump's campaign, every aspect of the election was fully legitimate. — Lily Hay Newman, Wired, "Joe Biden Won—and Not Because of Voter Fraud," 7 Nov. 2020 West Linn police had built a spurious theft case against Fesser at the behest of their police chief at the time, Terry Timeus, who was friends with Fesser’s boss at A&B; Towing, Eric Benson. — oregonlive, "Portland police ‘unwittingly helped arrest a man based on a deeply flawed criminal investigation,’ review of Michael Fesser case finds," 4 Mar. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spurious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.