sophist

[ sof-ist ]

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) Greek History.
   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.

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

Other Words From

• anti·sophist noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophist¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophist¹

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

Example Sentences

Though Socrates denied a connection to Sophism, the supposed link stuck among detractors in Athens who saw Sophists as poisoning the minds of disrespectful youth.

From Washington Post

Fletcher credits this way of reading to the ancient Greek Sophists, humble students who, “on gentle coves and white-sand islands … dedicated themselves to learning all about poem and myth.”

From New York Times

In this sense, the written word, along with its avid promoters, the Sophists, represented a frightening challenge to the old order.

From Literature

People who sought out the Sophists were primarily interested in furthering their political careers.

From Salon

"And hence we learn with reverence to esteem Of these frail houses, though the grave confines: Sophist may urge his cunning tests, and deem That they are earth;—but they are heavenly shrines."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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