GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Sophist, n. [F. sophiste, L. sophistes, fr. Gr. . See Sophism.]
   1. One of a class of men who taught eloquence, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece; especially, one of those who, by their fallacious but plausible reasoning, puzzled inquirers after truth, weakened the faith of the people, and drew upon themselves general hatred and contempt.
   
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   Many of the Sophists doubdtless card not for truth or morality, and merely professed to teach how to make the worse appear the better reason; but there scems no reason to hold that they were a special class, teaching special opinions; even Socrates and Plato were sometimes styled Sophists. Liddell & Scott.
   
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   2. Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.
   
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