skeptic

skep·tic | \ ˈskep-tik

How to pronounce skeptic (audio)

\

Definition of skeptic

1 : an adherent or advocate of skepticism

2 : a person disposed to skepticism especially regarding religion or religious principles

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about skeptic

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of skeptic in a Sentence

Skeptics have pointed out flaws in the researchers' methods. You can believe in ghosts if you like, but I'm still a skeptic. He is a skeptic and a cynic.

Recent Examples on the Web What happened at the end of the 2004-05 season, Duncan’s eighth campaign, silenced those skeptics. — Tom Orsborn, ExpressNews.com, "‘One of a kind’ Tim Duncan won’t get caught up in Hall of Fame hype," 13 Feb. 2020 The battle between Tesla believers and skeptics has captivated Wall Street. — Gregory Zuckerman, WSJ, "The Agony of the Tesla Bears: $8.4 Billion of Losses in Five Weeks," 9 Feb. 2020 Bloomberg Britain is getting ready to scale up negative-emissions technology Reuters Tesla's surge inspires fans to buy, skeptics to dig in, drives fear of missing out Calendar TUESDAY | FEB. — Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner, "Daily on Energy: Brouillette touts new funding for cleaner coal plants," 7 Feb. 2020 Bolsonaro, a climate skeptic, has been criticized internationally for pledging to open the vital Amazon rainforest to development and agribusiness, and make major changes to the South American country’s environmental policy. — Washington Post, "US energy secretary: Brazil showing commitment on climate," 3 Feb. 2020 Because of his size – 5-foot-10 and 207 pounds – there were concerns by some skeptics as to whether Murray would be able to hold up in the NFL. — Bob Mcmanaman, azcentral, "Kliff Kingsbury has no intention of shelving Kyler Murray: If QB can play, he will play," 23 Dec. 2019 The goal, according to the lawsuit, was to pinpoint their insecurities and weed out skeptics. — Nicole Hong, New York Times, "Nxivm ‘Sex Cult’ Was Also a Huge Pyramid Scheme, Lawsuit Says," 29 Jan. 2020 One of the first deliberate sound bites in American history, the slogan rationalized what people wanted to do for other reasons, without convincing skeptics. — H.w. Brands, Washington Post, "John and Jessie Frémont’s story of gold, ambition and the American West," 24 Jan. 2020 With the help of a public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller (now BCW), Valspar crafted a plan to ask prominent BPA skeptics to study the chemical for endocrine effects. — Warren Cornwall, Science | AAAS, "To replace controversial plastic additive BPA, a chemical company teams up with unlikely allies," 23 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'skeptic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about skeptic

Dictionary Entries near skeptic

Statistics for skeptic

Last Updated

17 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Skeptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skeptic. Accessed 21 Feb. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

numismatic

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

More Confusing Words—Quiz

The magician ______ moved the selected card to the top of the deck.

discretely discreetly

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.