sophist
[ sof-ist ]
/ ˈsɒf ɪst /
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noun
(often initial capital letter)Greek History.
- any of a class of professional teachers in ancient Greece who gave instruction in various fields, as in general culture, rhetoric, politics, or disputation.
- a person belonging to this class at a later period who, while professing to teach skill in reasoning, concerned himself with ingenuity and specious effectiveness rather than soundness of argument.
a person who reasons adroitly and speciously rather than soundly.
a philosopher.
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Origin of sophist
1535–45; <Latin sophista<Greek sophistḗs sage, derivative of sophízesthai
OTHER WORDS FROM sophist
an·ti·soph·ist, noun, adjectiveWords nearby sophist
Sophar, sopher, Sophia, Sophie, sophism, sophist, sophister, sophistic, sophisticate, sophisticated, sophistication
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for sophist
British Dictionary definitions for sophist
sophist
/ (ˈsɒfɪst) /
noun
(often capital) one of the pre-Socratic philosophers who were itinerant professional teachers of oratory and argument and who were prepared to enter into debate on any matter however specious
a person who uses clever or quibbling arguments that are fundamentally unsound
Word Origin for sophist
C16: from Latin sophista, from Greek sophistēs a wise man, from sophizesthai to act craftily
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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