Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardSynonyms and Words Nearest in Meaning

During the policy review, the board rejected the consultant's specious arguments, noting that despite their surface plausibility, they lacked empirical backing. Which of the following words is nearest in meaning to the underlined word as used in the sentence?

  1. deceptiveAnswer
  2. B
    spacious
  3. C
    valid
  4. D
    specialized

Answer

The word nearest in meaning to 'specious' in this context is 'deceptive'.
In the given sentence, 'specious' refers to reasoning that appears sound or attractive on the surface but is actually unfounded or misleading. The term 'deceptive' precisely captures this sense of false plausibility.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the contextual clues in the sentence
The sentence indicates that the consultant's reasoning appeared plausible on the surface but lacked empirical backing and was rejected.
Contextual clues reveal that the target word describes something superficially convincing yet fundamentally flawed.
2
Determine the contextual meaning of the target word
The word 'specious' means having a false appearance of truth or plausible correctness.
Establishing the precise definition in context narrows down the choices to the appropriate synonym.
3
Evaluate the choices for contextual equivalence
The word 'deceptive' is the only option that expresses superficial plausibility concealing an underlying flaw.
The other choices represent an antonym, a paronym/homophone confusion, or an unrelated register term.

Key Concept

Determining contextual synonyms of sophisticated vocabulary
Rate this question

Topics

Synonyms and Words Nearest in Meaning

More questions from this topic