Word of the Day

: August 26, 2008

sophistry

noun SAH-fuh-stree

What It Means

1 : subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation

2 : an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially : such an argument used to deceive

sophistry in Context

The senatorial candidate argued that his opponent was using sophistry in an effort to distort his plan for education reform.

Did You Know?

The original Sophists were ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric and philosophy prominent in the 5th century B.C. In their heyday, these philosophers were considered adroit in their reasoning, but later philosophers (particularly Plato) described them as sham philosophers, out for money and willing to say anything to win an argument. Thus "sophist" (which comes from Greek "sophistēs," meaning "wise man" or "expert") earned a negative connotation as "a captious or fallacious reasoner." "Sophistry" is reasoning that seems plausible on a superficial level but is actually unsound, or reasoning that is used to deceive.