agnostic

1 of 2

noun

ag·​nos·​tic ag-ˈnä-stik 

əg-

1

: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as a supreme being) is unknown and probably unknowable

broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or any gods

Note: Do not confuse agnostic with atheist, which refers to a person who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods.

2

: a person who is unwilling to commit to an opinion about something

political agnostics

I call myself a wine agnostic. I don't care where a wine comes from.

—Wine Spectator

agnostic

2 of 2

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or being an agnostic : involving or characterized by agnosticism

2

: noncommittal, undogmatic

Insurers sometimes claim to be agnostic about the medical necessity of the contested procedures.

—Andrew Stark

—often used in combination

The songs were slight but polished. … They were also genre-agnostic …

—Carrie Battan

3

a

: not preferring a particular device or system

—usually used after a noun

… YouTube stars who are platform agnostic and … reaching large fan bases without traditional media.

—Jason Zinoman

b

: designed to be compatible with different devices (such as computers or smartphones) or operating systems

—usually used after a noun

content that is OS agnostic

—often used in combination

The application is platform-agnostic, so it can work on your tablet or cell phone.

Did you know?

How Agnostic Differs From Atheist

Atheist and agnostic appear in the same contexts but are distinct in meaning. Atheist refers to someone who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. Agnostic has two relevant meanings: it can refer to someone who holds the view that any ultimate reality, such as God, is unknown and probably unknowable, or it can refer to someone who is not committed to believing in either the existence or nonexistence of God or a god.

Agnostic first appeared in print in 1869 (it was possibly coined by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley), and was formed from the Greek agnōstos, meaning "unknown, unknowable." Atheist came to English from the French athéisme. Although both words share the prefix a-, meaning "without," the main body of each word is quite different. Agnostic ultimately comes from the Greek root gignōskein, meaning "know" (also the source of such words as know and prognosis). Atheist shares the root theo, meaning "god," with such words as theology and theism.

Examples of agnostic in a Sentence

Noun

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

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

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

Adjective

Cladistics classifies organisms in nested hierarchies based exclusively on their order of branching. (I should say that I am quite agnostic about this theory, so I do not write as a shill.) —Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History, March 1995

The composition comes alive in stanzas V and VI. This is the dark night. I hoped my readers would remember John of the Cross's poem. My night is not gracious, but secular, puritan, and agnostic. An existentialist night. —Robert Lowell, Collected Prose, 1987

… I thought that by the time I was past thirty-five—at the very least agnostic and surely swept by the bleak winds of existentialism—I had abandoned the Presbyterian precepts of my childhood. —William Styron, This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, 1982

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As agnostics, we are also intrigued by the return of certain humanitarian values to Catholicism under Pope Francis — the idea of the Church as a place for the outcast. —Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 16 Aug. 2025

But that subgenre is far from the only religiously tinged music — created by everyone from devout evangelicals to open agnostics, from country artists to rappers — climbing the charts today; a number of pop songs are likewise courting the divine. —Aja Romano, Vox, 8 July 2025

Adjective

The series follows the slow and halting coming together of Noah, reeling from a broken relationship, and Joanne (Kristen Bell), an agnostic podcaster with seemingly little in common with the spiritual leader. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025

Post-Covid, awards voters have become increasingly box office agnostic. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Greek ágnōstos "unknown, unknowable" (from a- a- entry 2 + gnōstós "known," variant of gnōtós, verbal adjective of gignṓskein "to know entry 1") + -ic entry 2 (after gnostic)

Adjective

derivative of agnostic entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1861, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1870, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for agnostic

• acrostic
• encaustic
• prognostic
• caustic
• gnostic
• diagnostic

Kids Definition

agnostic

noun

ag·​nos·​tic

ag-ˈnäs-tik,

əg-

: a person who believes that whether God exists is not known and probably cannot be known

agnostic adjective

agnosticism

-ˈnäs-tə-ˌsiz-əm

noun

Etymology

Noun

from Greek agnōstos "unknown," from a- "not" and gnōstos "known"