Socrates

American  

[sok-ruh-teez] / ˈsɒk rəˌtiz /

noun

1. 469?–399 b.c., Athenian philosopher.

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Socrates British  

/ ˈsɒkrəˌtiːz /

noun

1. ?470–399 _bc , Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. He taught that virtue was based on knowledge, which was attained by a dialectical process that took into account many aspects of a stated hypothesis. He was indicted for impiety and corruption of youth (399) and was condemned to death. He refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock

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Socrates Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek philosopher who was the teacher of Plato.

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Socrates said that an oracle of the gods had pronounced him the wisest of all people, because he knew how little he knew.

When Socrates was an old man, the citizens of Athens (see also Athens) condemned him to death, alleging that he denied the reality of the gods and corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates calmly drank the poison he was given — hemlock — and died a noble death.

The Socratic method of teaching proceeds by question and answer as opposed to lecture.

Other Word Forms

• anti-Socrates
  adjective
• pro-Socrates
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Socrates

Certainly from the Classical Period — that is, roughly the time of Pericles and Socrates — Greeks understood the Homeric poems as their founding myths.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

At Socrates, examples include “A Sea In-MOTION,” a star-shaped assemblage of bamboo fences by the Pioneers Go East Collective; and Natalia Nakazawa’s part-buckyball, part-yurt “Dome Cartographies.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

This concept is not new: The Greek philosopher Socrates was afraid that the invention of writing would make humans dumber because we wouldn’t exercise our memory as much.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2025

The HBO adaptation of Walter Mosley’s novel “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned” starred Fishburne as Socrates Fortlow, an angry ex-convict trying to deal with life outside prison.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025

She walks past the living room while I sit here writing in my Socrates Project journal.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King