one of the pre-Socratic philosophers who were itinerant professional teachers of oratory and argument and who were prepared to enter into debate on any matter however specious
2.
a person who uses clever or quibbling arguments that are fundamentally unsound
Word origin
C16: from Latin sophista, from Greek sophistēs a wise man, from sophizesthai to act craftily
sophist in American English
(ˈsɑfɪst)
noun
1. [oftenS-]
in ancient Greece, any of a group of teachers of rhetoric, politics, philosophy, etc., some of whom were notorious for their clever, specious arguments
2.
any person practicing clever, specious reasoning
Word origin
L sophista < Gr sophistēs, wise man: see sophism
Examples of 'sophist' in a sentence
sophist
But the real Hopper knows you for what you are: a cheap, neurotic two-bit sophist anti-American divorcée.