似是而非

sìshì'érfēi

seemingly so, but not really; appears right, but in fact wrong; specious

Wiktionary

Homographs

似是而非 sìshìérfēi apparently right but actually wrong; specious (idiom)

Entry Composition

=1 似 shì used in 似的 shìde
=1 似 sì
  1. to seem
  2. to appear
  3. to resemble
  4. similar
  5. -like
  6. pseudo-
  7. (more) than
=1 似 sì old variant of 似 sì
=2 是 shì
  1. to be (followed by substantives only)
  2. correct; right; true
  3. (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well
  4. (adverb for emphatic assertion)
=2 是 shì variant of 是 shì
3 而非 érfēi rather than; as opposed to