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sciolism

[ sahy-uh-liz-uhm ]
/ ˈsaɪ əˌlɪz əm /
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See synonyms for: sciolism / sciolistic on Thesaurus.com
noun
superficial knowledge.
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Origin of sciolism

First recorded in 1750–60; from 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. 2022

Words related to sciolism

bewilderment, disregard, illiteracy, insensitivity, blindness, oblivion, callowness, crudeness, darkness, denseness, dumbness, fog, incapacity, incomprehension, innocence, nescience, obtuseness, philistinism, rawness, shallowness

How to use sciolism in a sentence

  • There are many positions in life wherein Sciolism seems to be more profitable than knowledge.

    Ancient Faiths And Modern|Thomas Inman

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

    Education: How Old The New|James J. Walsh

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

    Phaedrus|Plato

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

    An American at Oxford|John Corbin

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
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