Word.ws English Dictionary

sophist

/ˈsɒfɪst/US/ˈsoʊfɪst/

sophist noun: a teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning. Also the alternative letter-case form of Sophist.

Noun (1)

sophist (plural sophists)

  1. (figuratively) A teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning.
    Synonyms:
    sophister
  2. (broadly, figuratively) One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
    • [T]hey have acted in this Calumny both the injuſtice of the Tyrant, and the forgery of the Sophiſt.1699, Richard Bentley, “The Preface”, in A Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris. With an Answer to the Objections of the Honourable Charles Boyle, Esquire, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for...
  3. (dated) Synonym of sophister (“university student who has completed at least one year”).
    Synonyms:
    sophister

Noun (2) capitalized: Sophist

Sophist (plural Sophists)

  1. (historical) A teacher in Ancient Greece, particularly (derogatory) teachers of oratory noted for their disingenuous argumentation and fallacious reasoning.
    Synonyms:
    sophister
  2. (derogatory) Alternative letter-case form of sophist, various figurative senses.

Also used as

sophist is also the alternative letter-case form of Sophist.

sophist meaning in Arabic, Indonesian and Persian

sophist in Arabic

one who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument
سَفْسَطِيّ safsaṭiyy, سَفْسَطَائِيّ safsaṭāʔiyy

sophist in Indonesian

one who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument
sofis

sophist in Persian

one who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument
سوفیست

Synonyms of sophist

Forms of sophist

pluralsophists
pluralSophists

Origin of sophist

Learned borrowing from Latin sophista and sophistes, borrowed from Ancient Greek σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “wise one”), from σοφίζομαι (sophízomai, “to become wise”).

Words formed from sophist

Questions about sophist

What does sophist mean?
Sophist means a teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning.
What is sophist in Arabic?
Sophist in Arabic is سَفْسَطِيّ (safsaṭiyy), سَفْسَطَائِيّ (safsaṭāʔiyy). See Sophist meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is sophist?
Sophist is a noun.
How do you pronounce sophist?
Sophist is pronounced /ˈsɒfɪst/ (UK).
What is the plural of sophist?
The plural of sophist is sophists.

Words near sophist in the dictionary

  1. sophiological
  2. sophiology
  3. Sophis
  4. sophism
  5. sophisms
  6. sophist
  7. sophister
  8. sophisters
  9. sophisti-pop
  10. sophistic
  11. sophistical

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sophist (page history and authors); Sophist (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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