fallacy
/făl′ə-sē/
noun
  1. A false notion.
  2. A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference.
  3. Incorrectness of reasoning or belief; erroneousness.
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. More at Wordnik
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Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › fallacy
FALLACY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
2 weeks ago - For them, a fallacy is reasoning that comes to a conclusion without the evidence to support it. This may have to do with pure logic, with the assumptions that the argument is based on, or with the way words are used, especially if they don't ...
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › fallacy
FALLACY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
FALLACY meaning: 1. an idea that a lot of people think is true but is in fact false: 2. an idea that a lot of…. Learn more.
People also ask

Is pathetic fallacy a logical fallacy?
Pathetic fallacy is not a logical fallacy. It is a literary device or figure of speech that often occurs in literature when a writer attributes human emotions to things that aren’t human, such as objects, the weather, or animals. · Pathetic fallacy is used to reflect a character’s emotions. For example, if a character has lost a loved one, they may hear “mournful” birdsong.
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scribbr.com
scribbr.com › home › what is pathetic fallacy? | definition & examples
What Is Pathetic Fallacy? | Definition & Examples
What is the difference between pathetic fallacy and appeal to pathos?
Pathetic fallacy and appeal to pathos sound similar but they refer to entirely different things. · Pathetic fallacy is a figure of speech, at least in most contexts, and not a reasoning error. It refers to the attribution of human emotions to something non-human in novels or poems. · Appeal to pathos, on the other hand, is a logical fallacy in which the speaker or author takes advantage of emotions, like fear or love for one’s family, to convince their audience instead of using rational arguments. · In other words, pathetic fallacy and appeal to pathos both relate to pathos or emotion but to a
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scribbr.com
scribbr.com › home › what is pathetic fallacy? | definition & examples
What Is Pathetic Fallacy? | Definition & Examples
Why do people use pathetic fallacy?
A pathetic fallacy can be a short phrase or a whole sentence and is often used in novels and poetry. Pathetic fallacies serve multiple purposes, such as: · Conveying the emotional state of the characters or the narrator · Creating an atmosphere or setting the mood of a scene · Foreshadowing events to come · Giving texture and vividness to a piece of writing · Communicating emotion to the reader in a subtle way, by describing the external world. · Bringing inanimate objects to life so that they seem more relatable.
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scribbr.com
scribbr.com › home › what is pathetic fallacy? | definition & examples
What Is Pathetic Fallacy? | Definition & Examples
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fallacy
Fallacy - Wikipedia
3 days ago - Even non-deductive arguments can be said to be fallacious: for example, an inductive argument that incorrectly applies principles of probability or causality. But "since deductive arguments depend on formal properties and inductive arguments don't, formal fallacies apply only to deductive arguments". A logical form such as "A and B" is independent of any particular conjunction of meaningful propositions.
use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument
Fallacy - Wikipedia
classification of fallacies: (1) material, (2) verbal, and (3) formal
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western … Wikipedia
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Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
iep.utm.edu › fallacy
Fallacies | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
For an example of the Fallacy of Accent involving the accent of a syllable within a single word, consider the word “invalid” in the sentence, “Did you mean the invalid one?” When we accent the first syllable, we are speaking of a sick person, but when we accent the second syllable, we are speaking of an argument failing to meet the deductive standard of being valid.
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Quora
quora.com › What-does-fallacy-mean-and-what-are-some-examples
What does fallacy mean, and what are some examples? - Quora
Answer (1 of 11): In the broadest sense of the term, a fallacy is simply a common incorrect idea. Basically a common misconception. For instance the idea that fortune cookies are part of Chinese culture is a common fallacy by this meaning.
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Scribbr
scribbr.com › home › what is pathetic fallacy? | definition & examples
What Is Pathetic Fallacy? | Definition & Examples
February 7, 2025 - Similarly, the word “fallacy” here means falseness (i.e., the sun doesn’t literally smile) and not flawed reasoning.
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Vocabulary.com
vocabulary.com › dictionary › fallacy
Fallacy - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
A fallacy is a misleading argument or belief based on a falsehood. If you oppose state testing in schools, you think it is a fallacy that educational quality can be measured by standardized tests.
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Psychology Today
psychologytoday.com › us › blog › harnessing-hybrid-intelligence › 202602 › the-replacement-fallacy
The Replacement Fallacy | Psychology Today
3 weeks ago - It is from extractive to regenerative—a shift in the operating logic of civilization itself. In my view, this means investing in AI and in NI, in meaning and machines, with a holistic understanding of their interplays with the future of humanity and the planet.
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The Writing Center
writingcenter.unc.edu › home › tips & tools › fallacies
Fallacies – The Writing Center
December 29, 2011 - The handout provides definitions, ... these fallacies. Most academic writing tasks require you to make an argument—that is, to present reasons for a particular claim or interpretation you are putting forward. You may have been told that you need to make your arguments more logical or stronger. And you may have worried that you simply aren’t a logical person or wondered what it means for an argument ...
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Lexicon Learning
lexiconlearning.com › word › Word.php
FALLACY | Definition and Meaning
FALLACY meaning is - An error in reasoning or argumentation, often due to a mistaken assumption.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/askphilosophy › what are fallacies and could someone explain it to me?
r/askphilosophy on Reddit: What are fallacies and could someone explain it to me?
May 18, 2025 -

I have been learning about logical fallacies, like appeal to authority, strawman, cherry picking etc and they are great in pointing out flaws in an individuals logical thinking. However, then what is the point of having debates and arguments if technically a lot of us also commit them without knowing? Or how people fall into traps of politicians like Trump who obviously has a lot of fallacies. Are fallacies there to strengthen our critical thinking and improve our arguments? What is there purpose?

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bab.la
en.bab.la › dictionary › english › fallacy
FALLACY - Definition in English - bab.la
volume_up UK /ˈfaləsi/nounWord forms: (plural) fallaciesa mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argumentsthe notion that the camera never lies is a fallacy▪ (Logic) a failure in reasoning which renders an argument invalidKraft exposes three fallacies in this approach▪ (mass ...
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Simple Book Publishing
open.library.okstate.edu › criticalthinking › chapter › __unknown__-3
Fallacies – Critical Thinking
September 1, 2019 - Fallacies are mistakes of reasoning, as opposed to making mistakes that are of a factual nature. If I counted twenty people in the room when there were in fact twenty-one, then I made a factual mistake.
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CREST Olympiads
crestolympiads.com › spellbee › fallacy
Word: Fallacy - Meaning, Usage, Idioms & Fun Facts
The word "fallacy" comes from the Latin word "fallacia," meaning "deception" or "trick." It is often used in logic to describe errors in reasoning that can lead to false conclusions.
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Your Logical Fallacy Is
yourlogicalfallacyis.com
Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies
A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people.
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Medium
medium.com › @3valuedlogic › what-is-a-fallacy-bb5bbbfcb397
What is a fallacy?
December 17, 2022 - In Mastering Logical Fallacies, Withey (p.11) writes “[w]hen an argument goes wrong, its because its proponent has committed a fallacy.” On this definition, an argument isn’t “bad” simply because someone doesn’t like it. So, it must be bad because it fails to meet some objective standards.
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Dictionary.com
dictionary.com › browse › fallacy
FALLACY Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
FALLACY definition: a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.. See examples of fallacy used in a sentence.
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › logical-fallacy
LOGICAL FALLACY definition | Cambridge English Dictionary
LOGICAL FALLACY meaning: 1. a mistake in the way you think about something that makes your final judgment or decision wrong…. Learn more.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › dictionary › fallacy
Fallacy Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
FALLACY meaning: 1 : a wrong belief a false or mistaken idea; 2 : the quality of being false or wrong