诡辩

詭辯
guǐbiàn
noun #30,458

Meanings

  1. 1 sophistry; specious argument
  2. 2 to engage in casuistry; to argue speciously

Examples

Zhè zhǐshì guǐbiàn, bù shì zhēnzhèng de luójí.
This is mere sophistry, not real logic.
Tā shànyú guǐbiàn.
He's good at clever-but-fallacious arguments.

Tips

history
诡辩 is the standard Chinese translation for the Greek 'sophistry' — historically used to describe the arguments of the ancient Greek Sophists, but also applied to figures from Chinese philosophy like (Gongsun Long) and his famous 'White Horse is not a Horse' (白马) puzzle from the School of Names (名家).
memory
(deceitful / strange) + (to argue / debate) = arguing deceitfully. is the same character in 诡异 (guǐyì, eerie) and 诡计 (guǐjì, scheme).

Stroke Order

guǐ
biàn