agnostic

¹ag·nos·tic

noun \ag-ˈnäs-tik, əg-\

Definition of AGNOSTIC

1

: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god

2

: a person who is unwilling to commit to an opinion about something <political agnostics>

— ag·nos·ti·cism \-tə-ˌsi-zəm\ noun

Examples of AGNOSTIC

1. Even polytheists … were in fact tolerated, as Islamic rule spread to most of India. Only the total unbeliever—the agnostic or atheist—was beyond the pale of tolerance … —Bernard Lewis, Islam in History, 1993
2. Supporters of education vouchers … will love what Norman Macrae has to say on the subject. Teachers' unions and other opponents of vouchers … will deplore it. Voucher agnostics (and I include myself) might find that the proposal not only answers most doubts but also makes sense on issues they've never much thought about. —William Raspberry, Springfield (Massachusetts) Union, 14 Aug. 1987
3. I call myself an agnostic. I do not really have any faith, any coherent religious faith, and yet the one thing in my life that I feel passionate and evangelical about is poetry. —Maxine Kumin, “An Interview at Interlochen,” 1977, in To Make a Prairie, 1979

Origin of AGNOSTIC

Greek agnōstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnōstos known, from gignōskein to know — more at know

First Known Use: 1869

Other Christian Religious Terms

Pentateuch, blasphemy, curate, doxology, eremite, iconoclasm, liturgy, orison, pneuma, reliquary

Rhymes with AGNOSTIC

acrostic, prognostic