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
From the M-W Editors
Recent Examples of sophist from the Web
-
Not even the most shameless sophist will argue that anything like that happened.
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
Other Philosophy Terms
Learn More about sophist
-
Britannica English: Translation of sophist for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sophist
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up sophist? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!