Sophistry is clever reasoning designed to mislead. Pure sophistry, dismiss it as sophistry, a piece of sophistry.
The cleverness is what makes it sophistry rather than error — a bad argument is a mistake, and sophistry is a good-looking argument made in bad faith. The Sophists were paid teachers of rhetoric in Athens, and Plato's hostility gave the word its permanent stain.
1nounsophistryClever reasoning designed to mislead.
“The lawyer's sophistry almost convinced the jury that black was white.”
sophistry is a reasoning.
From Greek sophistes, a teacher of rhetoric, from sophia, wisdom. Plato's attacks gave the word its bad sense.
Latin
sophestria
Medieval Latin
sophistria
Old French
sofisterie
Middle English
safistre
English, today
sophistry
Built from
From Middle English safistre, soffistre, sofystry, sophestrie, sophestry, sophestrye, sophistre, sophistri, sophistrie, sophistry, sophistrye, sophystrye, from Old French sofisterie, sophistrie and Medieval Latin sophistria, Anglo-Latin sophestria, from Latin sophista, from Ancient Greek σοφιστής (“wise man”), from σοφίζω (“to be wise”), from σοφός (“wise”), equivalent to sophist + -ry.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA