sophist
[ sof-ist ]
/ ˈsɒf ɪst /
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.
Words nearby sophist
sopher, sophi, sophia, sophie, sophism, sophist, sophister, sophistic, sophisticate, sophisticated, sophistication
Origin of sophist
1535–45; < Latin sophista < Greek sophistḗs sage, derivative of sophízesthai
OTHER WORDS FROM sophist
an·ti·soph·ist, noun, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Examples 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
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