sophistry

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 21, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>sophistry</strong> &#149; \SAH-fuh-stree\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><em>Sophistry</em> refers to reasoning or arguments that sound correct but which are actually false.</p> <p>// The professor challenged the student's arguments, insisting they were based on <em>sophistry</em> and could be easily disproven.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sophistry">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"If you listen to the <em>sophistry</em> emanating from corporate leaders…, prices for goods and services are surging, and one of the causes is quite simple: Workers want more money." — Jacob Silverman, <em>The New Republic</em>, 11 June 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The original <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sophist">Sophists</a> were ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric and philosophy prominent in the 5th century B.C. In their heyday, these philosophers were considered adroit in their reasoning, but later philosophers (particularly Plato) described them as sham philosophers, out for money and willing to say anything to win an argument. Thus <em>sophist</em> (which comes from Greek <em>sophistēs,</em> meaning "wise man" or "expert") earned a negative connotation as "a captious or fallacious reasoner." <em>Sophistry</em> is reasoning that seems plausible on a superficial level but is actually unsound, or reasoning that is used to deceive.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>