A statement that appears true mostly because it sounds good / poetic / alliterates / rhymes.
I'm pretty sure there is such a word. I heard it a few years ago, but have since forgotten it.
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6 Answers
Verisimilitude means "the quality of sounding true." So if you wanted to be very pretentious and formal about it you could say something like "verisimilitude by euphony."
(This example was recursive. :) )
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1I have no idea if this is accurate, but it just sounds right. hee hee I love words that start with V!– Kit Z. Fox ♦Commented May 18, 2011 at 18:34
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Statements with verisimilitude usually are true - at least in the opinion of the speaker who dubs them with that quality. If I knew for sure the statement wasn't true, I'd probably say it was seductive. Commented May 19, 2011 at 3:49
The newish word "truthiness" sort of applies here but focuses more on gut feelings or things that just seem true instead of a statement's visual or oral attractiveness.
The word you're looking for is specious.
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2Note that specious means something that isn't actually true. The way I interpret the question, it's looking for a word that doesn't say anything about the underlying truth value of a statement, just about whether it sounds true.– MarthaªCommented May 18, 2011 at 18:46
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This seems to be the apt answer .. Just want to appreciate good answers...– ArgotCommented Jan 28, 2014 at 19:57
It sounds like something that would fall among the logical fallacies.
Perhaps "prestigious jargon": http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=18556&pst=904731
Or "appeal to emotion": http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-emotion.html
answered Mar 22, 2011 at 17:44
truthlikeness (see the Wikipedia entry on verisimilitude)
answered Feb 6, 2012 at 4:41
