casuist
Americannoun
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an oversubtle or disingenuous reasoner, especially in questions of morality.
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a person who studies and resolves moral problems of judgment or conduct arising in specific situations.
noun
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a person, esp a theologian, who attempts to resolve moral dilemmas by the application of general rules and the careful distinction of special cases
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a person who is oversubtle in his or her analysis of fine distinctions; sophist
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of casuist
1600–10; < Spanish casuista < Latin cāsu ( s ) case 1 + -ista -ist
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I feel only pity," concluded Stimson, "for the casuist who would dismiss the Nazi leaders because 'they were not warned it was a crime.'
From Time Magazine Archive
Beneath the glamorous raiment one can also glimpse the wily casuist who accepts the flimsiest excuse for invading France and courts his future wife knowing he has already won her as a spoil of war.
From Time Magazine Archive
But our pro-cameleer was a casuist of very loose morality.
From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6 Volume 2 by Évariste Régis Huc
Is the poisoned breath of the casuist to destroy the prosperity of those— "Quos neque Tydides, nec Larissæus Achilles, Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinæ!"
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, No. 362, December 1845 by Various
It is, in short, applied morality; anybody is a casuist who reflects about his duties and tries to bring them into line with some intelligible moral standard.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various
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