skeptic
Americannoun
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a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.
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a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans, statements, or the character of others.
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a person who doubts the truth of a religion, especially Christianity, or of important elements of it.
- Synonyms:
- doubter
- Antonyms:
- believer
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(initial capital letter)
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a member of a philosophical school of ancient Greece, the earliest group of which consisted of Pyrrho and his followers, who maintained that real knowledge of things is impossible.
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any later thinker who doubts or questions the possibility of real knowledge of any kind.
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adjective
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pertaining to skeptics or skepticism; skeptical.
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(initial capital letter) pertaining to the Skeptics.
noun
Related Words
See agnostic.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of skeptic
1565–75; < Late Latin scepticus thoughtful, inquiring (in plural Scepticī the Skeptics) < Greek skeptikós, equivalent to sképt ( esthai ) to consider, examine (akin to skopeîn to look; see -scope) + -ikos -ic
Explanation
A skeptic is a person who doesn't believe something is true unless they see evidence. As a skeptic, you refuse to believe your sister saw a ghost — after all, she can't prove it. Skeptics are doubters — they need to see proof before they will believe. If you're a skeptic, you're probably dubious about things like astrology and magic. Some skeptics feel the same way about religion, preferring facts that can be scientifically and historically proven. Coming from the Greek word skeptikos, which means "thoughtful or inquiring," it's no surprise that a skeptic is someone who asks a lot of questions — and isn't easily convinced.
Vocabulary lists containing skeptic
October Words
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New Year, New Words: Vocabulary for January
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The Suffix -ic, Part 1
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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.
Being an Intel skeptic is a lonely business in 2026, but here I am.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
But he is also a skeptic of preemption when neither Congress nor the Constitution has explicitly stripped away some traditional power from the state.
From Slate • Apr. 22, 2026
That rally was enough to get skeptic BNP Paribas analyst David O’Connor to back away from his bearish call on the stock.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
Thus in 1776, even Thomas Paine, a religious skeptic, drew from the Bible to make his famous case for American Independence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Though no response, spirit or mortal, was recorded, it’s assumed that the clever Miss Allen remained a skeptic.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
