# spurious

Pronunciation: say "SPYOOR-ee-uhs" US /ˈspjʊ.ɹi.əs/, UK /ˈspjʊə.ɹi.əs/

## Adjective

1. Not genuine or authentic; false.
   - Simple: Not real or true, but 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._
2. Stray or extraneous; present but not relevant or wanted.
   - Simple: Extra and unwanted, and not belonging where it is.
   - _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._

## Adjective

3. Born to parents who were not married to each other; illegitimate. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Born to parents who were not married to each other.

## Origin

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

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spurious (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).