sophistry

n. fallacy, error in reasoning, misconception; deceptive argument

Sophism can mean two very different things: In the modern definition, a sophism is a confusing or illogical argument used for deceiving someone. In Ancient Greece, the sophists were a group of teachers of philosophy and rhetoric.The term sophism originates from Greek sophistes, meaning "wise-ist", one who "does" wisdom, one who makes a business out of wisdom (sophós means "wise man").
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Noun
1. a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone
(synonym) sophism, sophistication
(hypernym) fallacy, false belief

(n.)
The practice of a sophist; fallacious reasoning; reasoning sound in appearance only.
  

(n.)
The art or process of reasoning; logic.
  

Synonyms and related words:
Italian hand, acuteness, aesthetics, ambiguity, argument, argument by analogy, argumentum ad baculum, argumentum ad captandum, argumentum ad hominem, art, artfulness, artifice, astuteness, axiology, bad case, begging the question, cageyness, callidity, canniness, casuistry, circular argument, claptrap, cleverness, college of Laputa, corruption, cosmology, craft, craftiness, crossed fingers, crowd-pleasing argument, cunning, cunningness, deception, deceptiveness, deduction, deductive reasoning, delusion, demonstration, discourse, discourse of reason, discursive reason, disingenuousness, emptiness, empty words, epistemology, equivocation, ethics, fallacy, fine Italian hand, finesse, first philosophy, formal fallacy, foxiness, gamesmanship, gnosiology, guile, hollow mockery, hollowness, hysteron proteron, induction, inductive reasoning, ingeniousness, insidiousness, insincere argument, insincerity, inventiveness, jesuitry, logic, logical fallacy, logical thought, material fallacy, mental philosophy, mere rhetoric, metaphysics, misdirection, misguidance, misinformation, misinstruction, misknowledge, misleading, misteaching, mockery, moonshine, moral philosophy, mystification, non sequitur, obfuscation, obscurantism, obscuration, one-upmanship, ontology, paralogism, perversion, petitio principii, phenomenology, philosophastry, philosophic doctrine, philosophic system, philosophic theory, philosophical inquiry, philosophical speculation, philosophism, philosophy, proof, pseudosyllogism, ratiocination, rationalism, rationality, rationalization, rationalizing, readiness, reason, reasonableness, reasoning, resourcefulness, satanic cunning, school of philosophy, school of thought, science of being, sharpness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slipperiness, slyness, sneakiness, solecism, sophism, specious reasoning, speciousness, spuriousness, stealth, stealthiness, subtilty, subtleness, subtlety, suppleness, sweet reason, tergiversation, theory of beauty, theory of knowledge, tongue in cheek, trickiness, uncandidness, uncandor, unfrankness, value theory, verbal fallacy, wariness, weak point, wiles, wiliness, wit