SOPHISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sophism mean? 

• SOPHISM (noun)
  The noun SOPHISM has 1 sense:

1. a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone

  Familiarity information: SOPHISM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOPHISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

sophism; sophistication; sophistry

Hypernyms ("sophism" is a kind of...):

fallacy; false belief (a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning)

Derivation:

sophist (someone whose reasoning is subtle and often specious)

sophistic (plausible but misleading)

 Context examples 

I had before been moved by the sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his fiendish threats; but now, for the first time, the wickedness of my promise burst upon me; I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)