Sceptic
[skeptik]
Definition
(-) Alt. of Scepticism
Edited by Jeanne
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [Written also Skeptic.] [1]. Doubter.[2]. Deist, infidel, unbeliever, free thinker.
Edited by Johanna
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Doubter, infidel, un_believer, deist
ANT:Believer
Checked by Douglas
Definition
adj. pertaining to the philosophical school in ancient Greece of Pyrrho and his successors: doubting: hesitating to admit the certainty of doctrines or principles: (theol.) doubting or denying the truth of revelation.—ns. Scep′sis Skep′sis philosophic doubt; Scep′tic one who is sceptical: (theol.) one who doubts or denies the existence of God or the truths of revelation.—adv. Scep′tically.—n. Scep′ticalness.—v.i. Scep′ticise to act the sceptic.—n. Scep′ticism that condition in which the mind is before it has arrived at conclusive opinions: doubt: the doctrine that no facts can be certainly known: agnosticism: (theol.) doubt of the existence of God or the truth of revelation.
Checked by Ives
Examples
- Matthew, sceptic and scoffer, had already failed to subscribe a prompt belief in that pain about the heart. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Her father might be a heretic; but had not she, in her despairing doubts not five minutes before, shown herself a far more utter sceptic? Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- The sceptic will object,—Fairy tales! Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I am afraid that I am still a sceptic, he said. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Little sceptic, you _shall_ be convinced. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- What a little sceptic it is! Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- For my part, I must plead the privilege of a sceptic, and confess, that this difficulty is too hard for my understanding. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- It is easy for the sceptic to mock at these disputes. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Now in all ages there have been sceptics in Christendom. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- If they did not make very many converts, at least they made sceptics among the adherents of the older faiths. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Editor: Peter