sophist

[sof-ist]

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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.

Origin of sophist

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

Related formsan·ti·soph·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sophist

theorist, brain, philosopher, bigot, trickster, impostor, phony, crook, charlatan, logician, sage, savant, sophist, syllogist, pedant, know-it-all, scholar, cheat, faker, fake

Examples from the Web for sophist

Contemporary Examples of sophist

If his Ethicist gig ever winds up feeling too constricting, he can always launch a column called The Sophist.
Forget the Wife Beating—Are You Ready for Some Football?
Steve Almond
September 11, 2014

Historical Examples of sophist

Plato does not really mean to say that the Sophist or the Statesman can be caught in this way.
Sophist
Plato
The seller of the arts may be called an art-seller; the seller of virtue, a Sophist.
Sophist
Plato
The Sophist, then, has not real knowledge; he is only an imitator, or image-maker.
Sophist
Plato
And this is Plato's reply, both in the Cratylus and Sophist.
Sophist
Plato
And the Sophist also uses illusions, and his imitations are apparent and not real.
Sophist
Plato

British Dictionary definitions for sophist

sophist

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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sophist

"one who makes use of fallacious arguments," mid-15c., earlier sophister (late 14c.), from Latin sophista, sophistes, from Greek sophistes "a master of one's craft; a wise or prudent man, one clever in matters of daily life," from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "skilled in a handicraft, cunning in one's craft; clever in matters of everyday life, shrewd; skilled in the sciences, learned; clever; too clever," of unknown origin. Greek sophistes came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and at Athens, contrasted with "philosopher," it became a term of contempt.

Sophists taught before the development of logic and grammar, when skill in reasoning and in disputation could not be accurately distinguished, and thus they came to attach great value to quibbles, which soon brought them into contempt. [Century Dictionary]