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sciolism

[ sahy-uh-liz-uh m ]
/ ˈsaɪ əˌlɪz əm /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sciolism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

superficial knowledge.

RELATED WORDS

blindness, oblivion, disregard, illiteracy, bewilderment, insensitivity, incapacity, darkness, unconsciousness, rawness, fog, unawareness, simplicity, innocence, vagueness, unfamiliarity, nescience, dumbness, philistinism, incomprehension

Nearby words

  1. scintillometer,
  2. scintillon,
  3. scintiphotography,
  4. scintiscan,
  5. scintiscanner,
  6. sciolist,
  7. sciomachy,
  8. sciomancy,
  9. scion,
  10. sciophobia

Origin of sciolism

1810–20; < Late Latin sciol(us) one who knows little (diminutive of scius knowing; see conscious, -ole1) + -ism
Related formssci·o·list, nounsci·o·lis·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sciolism

  • Few things are as distressing as the sciolism of a second-rate English editor of a classic.

    An American at Oxford|John Corbin

  • Such an age of sciolism and scholasticism may possibly once more get the better of the literary world.

    Phaedrus|Plato

  • This is scholarship; the secondary information that has been popular is sciolism.

    Education: How Old The New|James J. Walsh
British Dictionary definitions for sciolism

sciolism

/ (ˈsaɪəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

rare the practice of opinionating on subjects of which one has only superficial knowledge
Derived Formssciolist, nounsciolistic, adjective

Word Origin for sciolism

C19: from Late Latin sciolus someone with a smattering of knowledge, from Latin scīre to know
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sciolism

sciolism

n.

"a show of knowledge," 1798; see sciolist + -ism.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper