spurious

adj

Etymology: Borrowed from Late Latin spurius (“illegitimate, bastardly”), possibly related to sperno or from Etruscan.

1. False, not authentic, not genuine.

   “His argument was spurious and had no validity.”

   “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. Bastardly, illegitimate.

   “[…] who alſo in her prime of love, Spouſal embraces, vitiated with Gold, Though offer’d only, by the ſent conceiv’d Her ſpurious firſt-born; Treaſon againſt me?”