casuist

[ kazh-oo-ist ]

noun

1. an oversubtle or disingenuous reasoner, especially in questions of morality.
2. a person who studies and resolves moral problems of judgment or conduct arising in specific situations.

casuist

/ ˈkæzjʊɪst /

noun

1. a person, esp a theologian, who attempts to resolve moral dilemmas by the application of general rules and the careful distinction of special cases
2. a person who is oversubtle in his or her analysis of fine distinctions; sophist

Derived Forms

• ˌcasuˈistic, adjective
• ˌcasuˈistically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of casuist¹

1600–10; < Spanish casuista < Latin cāsu ( s ) case ¹ + -ista -ist

Word History and Origins

Origin of casuist¹

C17: from French casuiste, from Spanish casuista, from Latin cāsus case ¹

Example Sentences

Indeed, for at least a decade, the media landscape has been littered with casuist puff-pieces with headlines like:

From Salon

Had poor Peter been—what he certainly was not—a most accomplished casuist, he might have been puzzled by the ingenious complexity of some of those embarrassments.

From Project Gutenberg

Nicuesa was the better talker, having been brought up at court, while Ojeda was no great casuist.

From Project Gutenberg

All sins whatever, quoth the abbess, turning casuist in the distress they were under, are held by the confessor of our convent to be either mortal or venial: there is no further division.

From Project Gutenberg

He mentioned Paley, praised the naturalness and clearness of his style, but condemned his sentiments, thought him a mere time-serving casuist, and said that ‘the fact of his work on Moral and Political Philosophy being made a text-book in our Universities was a disgrace to the national character.’

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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