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

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

From Los Angeles Times

Under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a vaccine skeptic — federal agencies have in effect made it more difficult to get vaccinated against COVID-19 this year.

From Los Angeles Times

Under the leadership of the vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., federal agencies have effectively made it more difficult to get vaccinated against COVID-19 this year.

From Los Angeles Times

Kennedy dismissed an entire advisory panel responsible for vaccine recommendations and replaced its members with known vaccine skeptics.

From Los Angeles Times

Department of Health and Human Services, which is led by the vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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