False son cherished -- father ultimately coming out (8)
I believe the answer is:
specious
'false' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for specious that I've seen before include "Copies us, being superficially good" , "Superficially plausible but actually wrong" , "Misleadingly plausible" , "Attractive at first sight" , "Misleading" .)