sophist

 
Pronunciation: /ˈsɒfɪst/

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'