/əˈfektɪd/ (adj)

Definition

artificial, unnatural, pretentious, phony, specious, crocodile tears, insincere, spurious, factitious, exaggerated, overstated

Example

You suspect that an acquaintance who is suddenly extra nice to you is insincere and affected, but you can’t be completely sure. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it just feels like this person is hanging around you more than usual, dropping a few gratuitous hints.

According to a new study by Sara Langford at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (2017), this is all part of the process of deciding who is an “insincere ingratiator,”. If you believe that a person is using you (i.e., is inauthentic), you should react negatively and expect others would also catch on to that person’s ploys.

The crux of the problem with ingratiation is that the person’s behavior is by definition both self-serving and insincere. Wanting something out of you, the person may do favors, put on a false front of friendship, or flatter you by making up phony compliments. All of this makes you feel uncomfortable, because there’s a slight possibility that the efforts are genuine. You want to help someone who is truly in need, but if it feels like you’re being manipulated, helping that person is the last thing you’ll want to do.

Antonyms

natural, sincere, ingenuous

Parts of speech

Adverb: affectedly

Noun: affectedness

/ˈspiː.ʃəs/ (adj)

seemingly true but actually false, baseless, illusory, erroneous, sophistic, spurious, ostensible, inaccurate, unfounded, sham, fallacious, phony, deceptive, bogus, wrong, misleading

Such a lame and specious excuse for a hotel…

X Hotel is totally not worth their published rates. so I suggest that you find other hotels with the same price that gives better service. This place is so not worth the money. The hotel had mediocre rooms and bathrooms. The place was very very expensive, if you ask me. Their rooms were large but it definitely needs maintenance and renovation. Closet and TV inside the bedrooms need replacing too. Haven’t the management ever heard of LCD? Bathrooms were spacious but icky, needs more cleaning. it had foul smells coming from the drainage. Sleep quality was okay, but everything in the room needs upgrading! Even the walls had chipped paint etc. Hotel food was tasteless, nothing special despite the rates. Only 20% of the restaurant food was tasty enough to eat.

Source: https://www.tripadvisor.com/

Antonym: valid

Adverb: speciously

Noun: speciousness

Factitious 1100 Words You Need Week 46 Day 3

/fækˈtɪʃ.əs/ (adj)

false and artificial, contrived, bogus, specious, counterfeit, fraudulent, simulated, affected, unnatural, insincere, spurious, sham, pretended, phony, pseudo

Factitious disorder imposed on self is a factitious disorder wherein those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves. Munchausen syndrome fits within the subclass of factitious disorder with predominantly physical signs and symptoms, but patients also have a history of recurrent hospitalization, travelling, and dramatic, extremely improbable tales of their past experiences. The condition derives its name from the fictional character Baron Munchausen.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Antonym: bona fide, genuine

Noun: factitiousness

Adverb: factitiously

Bogus 1100 Words You Need Week 41 Day 4

/ˈbəʊ.gəs/ (adj)

false and unreal, spurious, fake, illegal, not genuine or true, deceptive, fraudulent, sham, counterfeit, dummy, pseudo, phony, hoax

Fake and bogus cure claims are a longstanding, but neglected public health problem. Throughout recorded history, plagues have inspired anxiety and desperation. Time and again, this public nervousness has proved a fertile ground for false cures and claimants to thrive. In this sense, recent claims of COVID-19 cures and antidotes are no exception.

During the Spanish flu, cure claims generated a false sense of safety that drove hundreds to defy closures and isolation. In the US, scores of bogus remedies alleging to cure the flu were sold under upbeat labels that undermined preventive action.

Source: http://www.ipsnews.net/

Antonym: bona fide, genuine

Noun: bogusness

Adverb: bogusly

Spurious 1100 Words You Need Week 31 Day 1 with authentic materials and examples, synonyms, antonyms, illustrated flashcards and text-to-speech for GRE, TOEFL & IELTS

/ˈspjʊə.ri.əs/ (adj)

false and misleading, pretending, pretentious, ostensive, ostensible, bogus, fake, forged, counterfeit, specious, imitation, inauthentic, sham, phony

Arguments may be fallacious due to flaws in their structure and form. These are formal fallacies. Arguments that are invalid for any other reason besides the form of the argument are informal fallacies. Informal fallacies come in many forms. One example of an informal fallacy is a “spurious relationship”: claiming two different groups that have no logical relationship are nevertheless connected. Wikipedia provides the following example: “an example of a spurious relationship can be illuminated examining a city’s ice cream sales. These sales are highest when the city’s rate of drownings is highest. To allege that ice cream sales cause drowning would be to imply a spurious relationship between the two. In reality, a heat wave may have caused both.”

Source: https://wac.colostate.edu/

Antonym: genuine, real

Noun: spuriousness

Adverb: spuriously