sophistry

Meaning

Noun

• Cunning, sometimes manifested as trickery.
• The art of using deceptive speech or writing.
• An argument that seems plausible, but is fallacious or misleading, especially one devised deliberately to be so.

Origin

• From Old French sophistrie, from Latin sophista, from Ancient Greek σοφιστής, from σοφίζω, from σοφός.