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Every fallacy, named and explained.

A working reference of 37 logical fallacies — with plain-language definitions, real-world examples, and links to the full guide for each. Once a name sticks, test it in the logical fallacy game.

37

Fallacies catalogued

5

Categories

185+

Example arguments

Jul ’26

Last updated

37 results · AllTest yourself →

An ad hominem fallacy attacks a person's character instead of addressing their argument.

“You can’t trust his economic plan — he cheats at golf.”

The ambiguity fallacy relies on vague or shifting meanings to make an argument appear valid.

“I saw a man on a hill with a telescope.”

The anecdotal fallacy treats a personal story as proof instead of using reliable evidence.

“My uncle smoked and lived to 95, so smoking’s fine.”

Appeal to Authority

An appeal to authority claims something is true because an authority figure says it, without adequate evidence.

“A celebrity doctor said it, so it must work.”

Appeal to Emotion

The appeal to emotion fallacy uses feelings as the primary evidence instead of reasons or facts.

“Think of the children — we must ban it.”

An appeal to fear tries to persuade by frightening people rather than presenting evidence.

“Vote no or the economy will collapse.”

Appeal to Ignorance

An appeal to ignorance claims something is true because it has not been proven false (or vice versa).

“No one has proved it’s false, so it must be true.”

Appeal to Nature

The appeal to nature fallacy assumes something is good or right simply because it is natural.

“It’s natural, so it must be safe.”

An appeal to pity uses sympathy, guilt, or distress as a substitute for evidence, pressuring you to accept a claim because someone is suffering rather than because the claim is true.

“I worked so hard on this — I deserve the A.”

Appeal to Tradition

The appeal to tradition fallacy argues something is right because it has always been done that way.

“We’ve always done it this way — why change?”

The bandwagon fallacy treats popularity as proof that a belief or decision is correct.

“Everyone’s investing in it, so it must be a good deal.”

Begging the Question

Begging the question is a logical fallacy where an argument's premise already assumes the truth of its conclusion, so the claim ends up supporting itself instead of being supported by evidence.

“It’s the best product because nothing else is as good.”

Burden of Proof

The burden of proof fallacy shifts the responsibility to disprove a claim instead of proving it.

“Prove that my invisible dragon isn’t real.”

Cherry picking is a logical fallacy where someone presents only the evidence that supports their claim while ignoring the evidence that undercuts it—every cited fact may be true, yet the overall picture is false.

“Our fund beat the market!” (in the one year it did)

Circular Reasoning

Circular reasoning uses the conclusion as one of its premises, providing no independent support.

“The book is true because the book says it’s true.”

The composition fallacy assumes what is true of parts must be true of the whole.

“Every brick is light, so the wall must be light too.”

Correlation ≠ Causation

The correlation versus causation fallacy assumes that because two things move together, one causes the other.

“Ice-cream sales and drownings both rise in summer — ice cream drowns people.”

The division fallacy assumes what is true of the whole must be true of each part.

“The team is great, so every player must be great.”

Equivocation shifts the meaning of a key word or phrase to make an argument seem valid.

“A feather is light; light can’t be dark; so a feather can’t be dark.”

Fallacy Fallacy

The fallacy fallacy is the mistake of concluding that a claim is false simply because someone used a bad argument to support it.

“Your argument had a fallacy in it, so you’re wrong.”

A false analogy compares two things that are not similar in the ways that matter.

“Running a country is just like running a business.”

The false cause fallacy assumes a causal relationship without adequate evidence.

“Crime went up after we built that park — ban parks.”

A false dilemma fallacy presents only two options when more possibilities exist.

“You’re either with us, or you’re against us.”

False Equivalence

False equivalence is a logical fallacy that treats two things as equally credible, serious, or comparable when they differ in the ways that matter—like giving a fringe opinion the same weight as expert consensus.

“One scientist disagrees, so the evidence is 50/50.”

Gambler’s Fallacy

The gambler's fallacy assumes past random events make a future outcome more likely.

“Red’s come up five times — black is due.”

Genetic Fallacy

The genetic fallacy judges a claim based on its source rather than its evidence.

“That idea came from a tabloid, so it’s wrong.”

Hasty Generalization

A hasty generalization draws a broad conclusion from too little or unrepresentative evidence.

“I met two rude locals. The whole city is rude.”

Loaded Question

A loaded question is a question that smuggles an unproven or damaging assumption into its wording, so any direct answer forces you to accept the hidden premise.

“Have you stopped being late to meetings?”

The middle ground fallacy assumes a compromise is always correct simply because it is between two extremes.

“Somewhere between the truth and the lie must be right.”

Moving the Goalposts

Moving the goalposts changes the criteria for success after those criteria have been met.

“OK, you met the deadline — but the quality’s off.”

No True Scotsman

The no true Scotsman fallacy redefines a group to exclude counterexamples and protect a claim.

“No real fan would miss the finale.”

Post hoc fallacy assumes that because one event followed another, the first caused the second.

“I wore my lucky socks and we won — they work.”

A red herring fallacy distracts from the original issue by introducing an irrelevant topic.

“Why worry about pollution when crime exists?”

A slippery slope claims a small step will inevitably lead to extreme outcomes without evidence.

“If we allow this, next it’ll be chaos.”

A straw man fallacy distorts someone's position to make it easier to attack.

“You want safer streets? So you want a police state.”

Texas Sharpshooter

The Texas sharpshooter fallacy cherry-picks data that fits a pattern while ignoring the rest.

“Cherry-pick the wins; ignore the losses.”

Tu quoque dismisses a claim by accusing the speaker of hypocrisy instead of addressing the argument.

“You smoke, so your advice on my health doesn’t count.”

Taxonomy

How they’re organized.

Fallacies tend to fail in a handful of predictable ways. Grouping them by failure-mode makes them easier to recall in the heat of an argument.

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