philosopher

noun

phi·​los·​o·​pher fə-ˈlä-s(ə-)fər 

1

a

: a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment : scholar, thinker

b

: a student of philosophy

2

a

: a person whose philosophical perspective makes meeting trouble with equanimity easier

b

: an expounder of a theory in a particular area of experience

c

: one who philosophizes

Examples of philosopher in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The technique was inextricably bound to his worldview as a prober and philosopher uncommitted to absolute truth or inflexible morality; in Preminger’s world, there are always myriad perspectives that, if not equally valid, are equally considered. —Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2026

The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno used it to concoct all sorts of paradoxes. —Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 25 Feb. 2026

America should heed the warning of a philosopher. —Letters To The Editor, Hartford Courant, 25 Feb. 2026

The authors—an astrophysicist, a theoretical physicist, and a philosopher—argue that the blind spot of Western science is its failure to fully reckon with the role of lived experience in science. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English philosophe, philosophre, from Anglo-French, from Latin philosophus, from Greek philosophos, from phil- + sophia wisdom, from sophos wise

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing philosopher

• philosopher's stone

Kids Definition

philosopher

noun

phi·​los·​o·​pher fə-ˈläs-(ə-)fər 

1

a

: a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment : scholar, thinker

b

: a student of philosophy

2

: a person who is calm and patient when faced with trouble