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

Example Sentences

International politics is not best overseen by saints or sophists.

From Los Angeles Times

Kellyanne Conway, who carried Trump's 2016 campaign over the finish line before assuming a role as the administration's most facile TV sophist, would bring a range of experience and insight in national politics.

From Salon

Like Socrates exposing the sophists of Athens, Kierkegaard “sought to expose” false teachers of grand schemes, the “pseudo-philosophers.”

From Washington Post

He often fought the urge to raise his own voice from behind the kitchen door and tell her to shut up, especially when she called Master a sophist.

From Literature

The Greek sophists were learned men who made clever arguments that were, in fact, false.

From Washington Post

Related Words

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