analogous / antithetical
Analogous ideas share a useful similarity; antithetical ideas oppose one another at a basic level.
Ten-word study set
Ideas and arguments
Words for evaluating claims, comparing ideas, identifying evidence, and describing weak reasoning.
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Separate relationships, reasoning, and evidence
An argument can fail in several different ways, and this collection gives each failure a more exact name. A tenuous connection is weak; a fallacious argument contains faulty reasoning; spurious evidence only appears valid. By contrast, a cogent case is clear and convincing, while corroborating evidence independently supports it. To refute a claim, the evidence must actually show that it is wrong.
Other words describe relationships between ideas. Analogous things are similar in a relevant respect, while antithetical positions are fundamentally opposed. Dogma is accepted as authoritative rather than continually questioned. Aberrant and aberration mark a departure from an expected pattern, but the adjective describes the unusual thing and the noun names the departure itself.
cogent / fallacious
Cogent reasoning is clear and persuasive. Fallacious reasoning relies on an error even when it initially sounds convincing.
corroborate / refute
To corroborate is to add confirming support. To refute is to demonstrate that a claim or argument is false.
adjective · uh-NAL-uh-guss
analogous
Comparable in certain relevant respects, though not identical.
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adjective · an-ti-THET-i-kul
antithetical
Directly opposed to or incompatible with something.
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verb · kuh-RAW-buh-rayt
corroborate
To confirm or support a statement with additional evidence.
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noun · DAWG-muh
dogma
A belief or set of beliefs accepted as authoritative and not to be questioned.
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