Socrates

American  

[sok-ruh-teez] / ˈsɒk rəˌtiz /

noun

1. 469?–399 b.c., Athenian philosopher.

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Socrates British  

/ ˈsɒkrəˌtiːz /

noun

1. ?470–399 _bc , Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. He taught that virtue was based on knowledge, which was attained by a dialectical process that took into account many aspects of a stated hypothesis. He was indicted for impiety and corruption of youth (399) and was condemned to death. He refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock

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Socrates Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek philosopher who was the teacher of Plato.

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Socrates said that an oracle of the gods had pronounced him the wisest of all people, because he knew how little he knew.

When Socrates was an old man, the citizens of Athens (see also Athens) condemned him to death, alleging that he denied the reality of the gods and corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates calmly drank the poison he was given — hemlock — and died a noble death.

The Socratic method of teaching proceeds by question and answer as opposed to lecture.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pro-Socrates
  adjective
• anti-Socrates
  adjective

Example Sentences

The question of democratic rage is timeless, and Mr. Turley’s historical narrative is sweeping—from the trial of Socrates to the rhetoric of Huey Long.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

At Socrates, examples include “A Sea In-MOTION,” a star-shaped assemblage of bamboo fences by the Pioneers Go East Collective; and Natalia Nakazawa’s part-buckyball, part-yurt “Dome Cartographies.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

"The way I saw it, if you just put everything into Afrobeats, you're now comparing Socrates to Kendrick Lamar because they both said two things that rhyme so they both must be rappers."

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025

This concept is not new: The Greek philosopher Socrates was afraid that the invention of writing would make humans dumber because we wouldn’t exercise our memory as much.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2025

But Paul Feldman sides with Socrates and Adam Smith—for he knows that the answer, at least 87 percent of the time, is yes.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt