Dictionary.com

sciolism

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

noun

superficial knowledge.

QUIZZES

GEE WHILLIKERS! WAIT TILL YOU SEE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Do you remember all the words from last week, September 21–27, 2020? Then this quiz should be butyraceous.
Question 1 of 7
What does “yare” mean?
quick; agile; lively.
expressive of or characterized by sorrow.
having or characterized by persistent or earnest desire.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of sciolism

1810–20; <Late Latin sciol(us) one who knows little (diminutive of scius knowing; see conscious, -ole1) + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM sciolism

sci·o·list, nounsci·o·lis·tic, adjective

Words nearby sciolism

scintillometer, scintillon, scintiphotography, scintiscan, scintiscanner, sciolism, sciomachy, sciomancy, scion, sciophyte, sciosophy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to sciolism

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

Example sentences 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 forms of sciolism

sciolist, 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