sophist

noun soph·ist \ ˈsä-fist \

Definition of sophist

1 : philosopher

2 capitalized : any of a class of ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and the art of successful living prominent about the middle of the fifth century b.c. for their adroit subtle and allegedly often specious reasoning

3 : a captious or fallacious reasoner

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Recent Examples of sophist from the Web

Not even the most shameless sophist will argue that anything like that happened.

— hugh hewitt, The Denver Post, "The U.S. Constitution isn’t a restaurant menu," 10 Mar. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of sophist

Latin sophista, from Greek sophistēs, literally, expert, wise man, from sophizesthai to become wise, deceive, from sophos clever, wise

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Philosophy Terms

dialectic, dualism, epistemology, existentialism, metaphysics, ontology, sequitur, solipsism, transcendentalism

Learn More about sophist

Britannica English: Translation of sophist for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sophist

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