Socratic

American  

[suh-krat-ik, soh-] / səˈkræt ɪk, soʊ- /

adjective

1. of or relating to Socrates or his philosophy, followers, etc., or to the Socratic method.

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noun

1. a follower of Socrates.

2. any of the Greek philosophers influenced by Socrates.

Socratic British  

/ sɒˈkrætɪk, ˈsɒkrətɪst /

adjective

1. of or relating to Socrates, his methods, etc

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noun

1. a person who follows the teachings of Socrates

Other Word Forms

• Socratically adverb
• Socraticism noun
• Socratist noun
• anti-Socratic adjective
• post-Socratic adjective
• pro-Socratic adjective
• pseudo-Socratic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Socratic

1630–40; < Latin Sōcraticus < Greek Sōkratikós of, pertaining to Socrates; see -ic

Example Sentences

That led researchers to pivot to a new paradigm for its founding goal of achieving humanlike intelligence: an automated Socratic method of questioning dubbed “reasoning.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025

I was scared about whether, even with my hearing aids, I would be able to keep up with the quick-fire exchanges that fill my classroom as I engage law students in the Socratic method.

From Slate • Oct. 20, 2024

For example, GPT-4 can assume a Socratic style of conversation and respond to questions with questions.

From Reuters • Mar. 15, 2023

“The Socratic view is that you want … an examined life,” Emanuel told me, “and what I was trying to do was encourage people to examine their lives when it comes to aging.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2023

Nigro was a professional teacher and was quite formal in his instructional technique, while Collins, as talented and caring as he was, employed a Socratic approach.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady