# What's the word for something that only appears to be meaningful? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028 "2008-12-06T19:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/1 "2008-12-06T19:41:25Z")
It’s on the tip of my tongue, but not getting any further. It’s a great word for describing horoscopes–you read them, you’re impressed with how well they describe you, but on closer inspection you realize that they were written so as to be accurate for almost everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/2 "2008-12-06T19:45:36Z")
Verisimilitude? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/3 "2008-12-06T19:51:01Z")
How about _specious:_ Main Entry: spe·cious 1 obsolete : showy 2: having deceptive attraction or allure 3: having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophistic \ (Merriam-Webster) ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/4 "2008-12-06T20:12:43Z")
Truthiness! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/5 "2008-12-06T20:13:42Z")
All three of those would apply to a statement which only appears to be true, which is not quite what I’m looking for. What I have in mind is something like advice that appears to be telling you what you need to do, but when you try to figure out exactly what you should do based on that advice, you realize that it’s nothing but generalities and platitudes. I think [Forer’s personality assessment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect#Forer.27s_demonstration) is close enough to work as an example. In brief, students were given a personality test with some number of questions, and then were given the following text as the outcome: > [@](#): > > You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic. On average, people thought that it was a highly accurate assessment of their own personalities, but really it was just cobbled together from various horoscopes. I’d like to think that a critical reading would’ve made it obvious that this is not specific to any one individual. However, there’s nothing false about it: all of those statements really do apply to every one of us from time to time. ETA: Inspired by this post, I looked up “platitudinous” and I think it or “bromidic” is pretty close to what I’m looking for. But I could’ve sworn that there was a shorter, more common word. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/6 "2008-12-06T21:47:50Z")
Wondrous-waffle! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/7 "2008-12-06T22:10:36Z")
Superficial ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/8 "2008-12-06T22:32:38Z")
Misleading? Deceptive? Delusory? delusory ([http://definr.com/delusory](http://definr.com/delusory)) adj : causing one to believe what is not true or fail to believe what is true; “deceptive calm”; “a delusory pleasure” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/9 "2008-12-06T22:37:03Z")
sophistry ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/10 "2008-12-06T22:39:36Z")
Could you be thinking of **vacuous** (meaning, as you know, ‘empty’ or ‘lacking in ideas or intelligence’)? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/11 "2008-12-06T22:41:47Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Could you be thinking of **vacuous** (meaning, as you know, ‘empty’ or ‘lacking in ideas or intelligence’)? Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/12 "2008-12-06T22:51:37Z")
ostensible - “appearing as such but _not necessarily so_” (but you mean “appearing as such _but definitely not_”, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/13 "2008-12-06T23:01:34Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > ostensible - “appearing as such but _not necessarily so_” (but you mean “appearing as such _but definitely not_”, right?) That’s the word I thought of. Slight hijack: Is there a word for ‘on the tip of my tongue’? (And don’t say ‘cunnilingus’. 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/14 "2008-12-07T02:27:11Z")
glossapexverbia? ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/15 "2008-12-07T02:34:09Z")
We always called them weasel words. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/16 "2008-12-07T02:37:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Slight hijack: Is there a word for ‘on the tip of my tongue’? (And don’t say ‘cunnilingus’. 😛 ) Only by acronym: [TOT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tongue). ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/17 "2008-12-07T02:58:16Z")
tergiversate evade equivocate hedge waffle A man may smile, and smile, and be a villain. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/18 "2008-12-07T03:53:33Z")
Sorry, I used the verb form of the first three. In case anyone wonders, the nouns would be: tergiversation evasion equivocation ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/19 "2008-12-07T06:32:57Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Superficial That’s what I was going to say. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028/20 "2008-12-07T10:04:12Z")
Bollocks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-for-something-that-only-appears-to-be-meaningful/476028.md?page=2)