Search

.
a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.
a person who maintains a doubting att-tude, as toward values, plans, statements, or the character of others.
a person who doubts the truth of a religion, especially christianity, or of important elements of it.
(initial capital letter) philosophy.

a member of a philosophical school of ancient greece, the earliest group of which consisted of pyrrho and his followers, who maintained that real knowledge of things is impossible.
any later thinker who doubts or questions the possibility of real knowledge of any kind.

pertaining to skeptics or ; .
(initial capital letter) pertaining to the skeptics.
historical examples

certainly it was not as a “sceptic” that you could define him, whatever his definition might be.
the life of john sterling thomas carlyle

this begets a very natural question; what is meant by a sceptic?
an enquiry concerning human understanding david hume

he is a sceptic, and dare hardly give credit to his senses, which he hath often arraigned of false intelligence.
character writings of the 17th century various

he was a sceptic about everything, even about his own position.
appreciations and criticisms of the works of charles d-ckens g. k. chesterton

of course to the sceptic this criterion may appear unsatisfactory, since it depends, not on direct knowledge, but on inference.
animal intelligence george j. romanes

napoleon, himself a sceptic, was cognizant of this slave philosophy.
the necessity of atheism dr. d.m. brooks

“let’s hope he’s blown himself up and made an end of all that nonsense,” said the sceptic of the party.
the wizard’s son, vol. 3 margaret oliphant

it remains to say that he was not disposed, being a sceptic and a scoffer.
other main-travelled roads hamlin garland

only the purest principle, or spirit, is impregnable against the attacks of the sceptic.
the will to doubt alfred h. lloyd

i said that merely to show you that a sceptic can quote scripture to his purpose.
the tyranny of the dark hamlin garland

noun
a person who habitually doubts the authenticity of accepted beliefs
a person who mistrusts people, ideas, etc, in general
a person who doubts the truth of religion, esp christianity
adjective
of or relating to sceptics; sceptical
noun
a member of one of the ancient greek schools of philosophy, esp that of pyrrho, who believed that real knowledge of things is impossible
adjective
of or relating to the sceptics
noun, adjective
an archaic, and the usual us, spelling of sceptic
n.

chiefly british english spelling of skeptic (q.v.). related: sceptical; sceptically; scepticism.
n.

also sceptic, 1580s, “member of an ancient greek school that doubted the possibility of real knowledge,” from middle french sceptique and directly from latin scepticus “the sect of the skeptics,” from greek skeptikos (plural skeptikoi “the skeptics, followers of pyrrho”), noun use of adjective meaning “inquiring, reflective” (the name taken by the disciples of the greek philosopher pyrrho, who lived c.360-c.270 b.c.e.), related to skeptesthai “to reflect, look, view” (see scope (n.1)).

skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches as opposed to him who -sserts and thinks that he has found. [miguel de unamuno, “essays and soliloquies,” 1924]

the extended sense of “one with a doubting att-tude” first recorded 1610s. the sk- spelling is an early 17c. greek revival and is preferred in u.s. as a verb, scepticize (1690s) failed to catch on.