sciolism

[sahy-uh-liz-uh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sciolism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

superficial knowledge.

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

Related Words for sciolism

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

Examples from the Web for sciolism

Historical Examples of sciolism

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

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

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