sophist

[ sof-ist ]
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noun
  1. (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.

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

  1. a philosopher.

Origin of sophist

1
1535–45; <Latin sophista<Greek sophistḗs sage, derivative of sophízesthai

Other words from sophist

  • an·ti·soph·ist, noun, adjective

Words Nearby sophist

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British Dictionary definitions for sophist

sophist

/ (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

Origin of sophist

1
C16: from Latin sophista, from Greek sophistēs a wise man, from sophizesthai to act craftily

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