skeptic

American  

[skep-tik] / ˈskɛp tɪk /

Or sceptic

noun

• skeptics
  plural

1. a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.

2. a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans, statements, or the character of others.

3. a person who doubts the truth of a religion, especially Christianity, or of important elements of it.

   Synonyms:

   doubter

   Antonyms:

   believer

4. (initial capital letter)

   1. 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.

   2. any later thinker who doubts or questions the possibility of real knowledge of any kind.

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adjective

1. pertaining to skeptics or skepticism; skeptical.

2. (initial capital letter) pertaining to the Skeptics.

skeptic British  

/ ˈskɛptɪk /

noun

1. an archaic, and the usual US, spelling of sceptic

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Synonym Usage

See agnostic.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antiskeptic
  noun
• skepticalness
  noun
• skepticism
  noun
• nonskeptic
  adjective
• skeptical
  adjective
• skeptically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• skeptics
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

skeptic skeptics

A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy has shared mixed messaging on MMR vaccine, at times endorsing it and other times sharing unproven claims about its safety.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Whether that money will buy new jobs or subsidize existing ones is the open question, said Patrick Button, a film and TV tax incentives skeptic and professor of economics at Tulane University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Until a few years ago, Levanon was a longtime skeptic of the idea that transformative technologies would sharply boost productivity and speed up the long-term growth of the U.S. economy.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Green emerged as a skeptic of digital money, while Menefee embraced the industry.

From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026

Eras, like many people who held seances, was a skeptic, but intrigued.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

Choi described two personality types, skeptics and frozen, that the group is targeting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

And because perpetual futures allow leverage, skeptics warn they can intensify a downward spiral during periods of market stress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

While the magazine’s monthly circulation eventually topped 500,000, it also fueled skeptics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Jobs himself described Cook as “not a product guy,” and skeptics have complained he plays it too safe.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

As additional proof from other laboratories and experiments accumulated in the 1950s, even the most hidebound skeptics had to convert into believers.*

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• agnostic
• cynic
• dissenter
• doubter
• pessimist
• questioner