From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsophistrysoph‧ist‧ry /ˈsɒfəstri $ ˈsɑː-/ noun (plural sophistries) [countable, uncountable] formal TRICK/DECEIVEthe clever use of reasons or explanations that seem correct but are really false, in order to deceive people
Examples from the Corpus
sophistry• But Pascal, under the influence of Jansenism, was fundamentally hostile to the Jesuits and their notorious sophistries.• It involves no recourse to sophistry, and it demystifies and strips of sensationalism the termination of the use of artificial support.Origin sophistry (1300-1400) Medieval Latin sophistria, from Latin sophista “one who uses sophistry”, from Greek sophistes “wise man, teacher of knowledge, user of sophistry”, from sophizesthai “to become wise, deceive”, from sophos “clever, wise” 