sophist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who uses clever but fallacious or misleading arguments

   The debater sounded persuasive, but the careful audience recognized him as a sophist.

2. 2
   noun

   one of the professional teachers of rhetoric, argument, and public life in ancient Greece

   A traveling sophist might teach a young Athenian how to argue a case before the assembly.

Borrowed through Latin sophista from Ancient Greek sophistēs, originally 'expert, wise person, or teacher,' from sophos, 'wise.' Critics such as Plato associated some Sophists with arguments aimed at victory rather than truth, producing the later pejorative sense.

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