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sophist

Pronunciation: /ˈsɒfɪst/

Definition of sophist

noun

  • a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in Greece in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, associated in popular thought with moral scepticism and specious reasoning.
  • a person who reasons with clever but false arguments.

Derivatives

sophistic

Pronunciation: /səˈfɪstɪk/

adjective

sophistical

Pronunciation: /səˈfɪstɪk(ə)l/

adjective

sophistically

Pronunciation: /səˈfɪstɪk(ə)li/

adverb

Origin:

mid 16th century: via Latin from Greek sophistēs, from sophizesthai 'devise, become wise', from sophos 'wise'

sophist in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sophist in the US English dictionary

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