Dictionary

sophistical en · ADJ

Etymology

From Middle English sophistical, sophisticale, sophisticall, from Anglo-Latin sophisticālis, equivalent to sophist + -ical.

Meanings

1. Pertaining to a sophist or sophistry.
2. Fallacious, misleading or incorrect in logic or reasoning, especially intentionally.
   • This is, we believe, a fair summary of Mr. Lamb's doctrine. We are sure that we do not wish to represent him unfairly. […] But we must plainly say that his argument, though ingenious, is altogether sophistical. 1841, Thomas Macaulay, Lord Byron and The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration:
   • Assuming other people to be as sophistical as ourselves, and as intent as we upon winning the argument, they are likely to be no more honest than we. 2011, Theodore Dalrymple, Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality:

Forms

Deriveds

sophistically · sophisticalness · unsophistical

Synonyms

sophistic