skeptic

Or scep·tic

[skep-tik]

noun

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.

adjective

1. pertaining to skeptics or skepticism; skeptical.

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

skeptic

/ ˈskɛptɪk /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of skeptic¹

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; -scope ) + -ikos -ic

Synonym Study

See agnostic.

Example Sentences

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Thursday to alter its recommendation on an early childhood vaccine, after a discussion that at times pitted vaccine skeptics against the CDC’s own data.

From Los Angeles Times

Smith again stresses that he himself is a “hopeful skeptic,” and purposefully stays out of the experience so that guests aren’t trying to figure out if he’s holding onto any secrets.

From Los Angeles Times

In June, Kennedy dismissed the members of the committee, replacing them with vaccine skeptics.

From Salon

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has defended the shakeup as necessary to create trust and “eliminate politics from science.”

From Los Angeles Times

Despite testing positive, another reader scolded, I “continue to vilify vaccine skeptics generally, and … Kennedy specifically. Truly fascinating.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• agnostic 
• cynic 
• dissenter 
• doubter www.thesaurus.com
• pessimist 
• questioner www.thesaurus.com