DictionaryAI

spurious

adjective
SaySPYOOR-ee-uhs/ˈspjʊ.ɹi.əs/UK/ˈspjʊə.ɹi.əs/

3 meanings of spurious

Practice

  1. 1
    falseadjective
    Not genuine or authentic; false.

    The judge dismissed the lawsuit because it rested on spurious claims.

    Collectors were warned that spurious signatures were turning up on old baseball cards.

    UsageCommon with claims and reasoning: spurious claims, a spurious argument, spurious charges.

    Similarfalse, fake, bogus, counterfeit, forged

    Oppositegenuine, authentic, valid

    Note

    Late Latin spurius meant “illegitimate”, and the sense of false grew from that idea: something whose origins cannot be vouched for.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • English spurious derives from Late Latin spurius, meaning illegitimate. en.wiktionary.org
    • The meaning false developed from illegitimate birth, extending the idea to inauthentic origins. archive.org
  2. 2
    unwantedadjective
    Stray or extraneous; present but not relevant or wanted.

    The software filters out spurious signals before the data reaches the analysts.

    A single spurious comma in the file kept the whole program from running.

    UsageCommon in technical writing: spurious signals, spurious emissions, spurious characters.

    Similarstray, extraneous, unwanted

    Note

    Here nothing is fake: a spurious signal or a spurious comma really exists, it just should not be there. Engineers speak of spurious emissions, the stray output of a transmitter that can upset nearby equipment, and the same idea covers stray thoughts that intrude on concentration.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Spurious emissions are unwanted transmitter emissions. itu.int
    • Spurious emissions can interfere with nearby equipment. itu.int
  3. 3
    born outside marriageadjectivearchaic
    Born to parents who were not married to each other; illegitimate.
    Note

    Milton bends it into a figure in Samson Agonistes (1671), where a wife's embraces, corrupted by the mere offer of gold, conceive treason as “her spurious first-born”.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • John Milton wrote Samson Agonistes. en.wikisource.org
    • Samson Agonistes was first published in 1671. en.wikipedia.org
    • The phrase “her spurious first-born” occurs in Samson's speech, describing treason conceived through spousal embraces corrupted by gold merely offered. en.wikisource.org

Practice

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Origin

Late Latin spurius, meaning "illegitimate," is the source. Its own origin may be Etruscan, or it may be connected with sperno.