sophist

American  

[sof-ist] / ˈsɒf ɪst /

noun

1. (often initial capital letter)

   1. any of a class of professional teachers in ancient Greece who gave instruction in various fields, as in general culture, rhetoric, politics, or disputation.

   2. 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.

2. a person who reasons adroitly and speciously rather than soundly.

3. a philosopher.

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sophist British  

/ ˈsɒfɪst /

noun

1. (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

2. a person who uses clever or quibbling arguments that are fundamentally unsound

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Other Word Forms

• antisophist noun

Etymology

Origin of sophist

1535–45; < Latin sophista < Greek sophistḗs sage, derivative of sophízesthai

Explanation

A sophist is someone who makes good points about an issue — until you realize those points aren't entirely true, like a political candidate who twists an opponent's words or gives misleading facts during a speech. Sophist has the accent on the first syllable: "SAW fist." It comes from the Greek word sophizesthai, meaning "to become wise or learned, deceive." In fact, deceit was just part of the job for the ancient Greek philosophers called Sophists. The cleverness of the Sophists prevented students from seeing that the Sophists' arguments didn't reach logical conclusions — and the Sophists kept their paying students coming back for more.

Example Sentences

Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard historian, said the positions held by the company and Mr. Tillerson still constitute climate denial, but in a “clever and sophist icated” form.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2016

This supposed techno-libertarian renegade, this poster child for the melding of microchips and humanist values, had become just another billionaire sophist.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2011

How does he listen to this sophist and then earnestly ask if he can, “with right and conscience,” make a claim to the French throne?

From New York Times • Aug. 17, 2011

He was ultimately a sophist, who liked to convince himself of the rightness of views that were indefensible.

From The Guardian • Jan. 23, 2011

He did not know what sophist meant, but he did not like that she called Master that.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• bigot
• charlatan
• crook
• impostor
• phony
• trickster