agnostic

[ ag-nos-tik ]

noun

1. a person who holds that the answers to the basic questions of existence, such as the nature of the ultimate cause and whether or not there is a supreme being, are unknown or unknowable.

   Synonyms: doubter, disbeliever, infidel, heretic, heathen, empiricism, secularism, skeptic, unbeliever, nonbeliever, pagan

2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.
3. a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic:

   Socrates was an agnostic on the subject of immortality.

adjective

1. of or relating to agnostics or their doctrines, attitudes, or beliefs.
2. asserting the uncertainty of all claims to knowledge.
3. not taking a stand on something, especially not holding either of two usually strongly opposed positions (often used in combination):

   He's known to take an agnostic view of technological progress.

   The governor's fuel-agnostic energy policies were highly controversial.

4. (especially of digital technology) not limited or dedicated to a particular device, system, etc. (often used in combination):

   platform agnostic software.

agnostic

/ æɡˈnɒstɪk /

noun

1. a person who holds that knowledge of a Supreme Being, ultimate cause, etc, is impossible Compare atheist theist
2. a person who claims, with respect to any particular question, that the answer cannot be known with certainty

adjective

1. of or relating to agnostics

Derived Forms

• agˈnosticism, noun

Other Words From

• ag·nos·ti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of agnostic¹

Coined in 1869 by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95); from Greek ágnōst(os), variant of ágnōtos “not known, incapable of being known” ( a- “not, without” + gnōtós “known,” adjective derivative of gignṓskein “to know”) + -ic none, after gnostic none; a- ⁶none

Word History and Origins

Origin of agnostic¹

C19: coined 1869 by T. H. Huxley from a- ¹+ gnostic

Synonym Study

Agnostic, atheist, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An agnostic is one who believes it impossible to know anything about God or about the creation of the universe, or who refrains from commitment to any religious doctrine because of a lack of knowledge about God or the creation of the universe. An atheist is one who does not believe in or denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings. Infidel means an unbeliever, especially a nonbeliever in Islam or Christianity, and is often disparaging and offensive, in contrast to atheist and agnostic, which are often used in self-identification. A skeptic doubts and is critical of all accepted doctrines and creeds; while a person may self-identify in this way, the term can also be applied by others.

Example Sentences

At that point, I was still a political agnostic.

From Salon

Speaking to BBC Asian Network's Haroon Rashid, he says the casting process for The Perfect Couple was "ethnicity agnostic" and actors from various backgrounds auditioned.

From BBC

Steven in Nevada, a middle-aged white man and likely Harris voter, was agnostic on Trump’s decline comment, but not in a good way.

From Salon

For those who are of those religious traditions, I would say this: please understand that the people who are in humanist and agnostic and freethinkers’ societies and groups spend most of their time organizing, mobilizing, and finding ways to combat the anti-democratic, racist and xenophobic movements in their communities.

From Salon

The goal of such fine-tuning is to create a more seamless experience that gives the user the response that they’re expecting based on the prompt entered, while the developer again remains relatively agnostic about the user’s desired outcome.

From Slate

Related Words

• skeptic