casuist
[ kazh-oo-ist ]
/ ˈkæʒ u ɪst /
noun
an oversubtle or disingenuous reasoner, especially in questions of morality.
a person who studies and resolves moral problems of judgment or conduct arising in specific situations.
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Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
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Which of the following bird names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Words nearby casuist
casualization, casualty, casualty insurance, casualwear, casuarina, casuist, casuistic, casuistry, casus belli, cat, cat and mouse
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for casuist
British Dictionary definitions for casuist
casuist
/ (ˈkæzjʊɪst) /
noun
a person, esp a theologian, who attempts to resolve moral dilemmas by the application of general rules and the careful distinction of special cases
a person who is oversubtle in his or her analysis of fine distinctions; sophist
Derived forms of casuist
casuistic or casuistical, adjectivecasuistically, adverbWord Origin for casuist
C17: from French casuiste, from Spanish casuista, from Latin cāsus case 1
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