skeptic
Americannoun
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skeptics
plural
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a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.
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a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans, statements, or the character of others.
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a person who doubts the truth of a religion, especially Christianity, or of important elements of it.
- Synonyms:
- doubter
- Antonyms:
- believer
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(initial capital letter)
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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.
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any later thinker who doubts or questions the possibility of real knowledge of any kind.
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adjective
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pertaining to skeptics or skepticism; skeptical.
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(initial capital letter) pertaining to the Skeptics.
noun
Synonym Usage
See agnostic.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antiskepticnoun
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skepticalnessnoun
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skepticismnoun
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nonskepticadjective
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skepticaladjective
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skepticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of skeptic
1565–75; < Late Latin scepticus thoughtful, inquiring (in plural Scepticī the Skeptics) < Greek skeptikós, equivalent to sképt ( esthai ) to consider, examine (akin to skopeîn to look; see -scope) + -ikos -ic
Explanation
A skeptic is a person who doesn't believe something is true unless they see evidence. As a skeptic, you refuse to believe your sister saw a ghost — after all, she can't prove it. Skeptics are doubters — they need to see proof before they will believe. If you're a skeptic, you're probably dubious about things like astrology and magic. Some skeptics feel the same way about religion, preferring facts that can be scientifically and historically proven. Coming from the Greek word skeptikos, which means "thoughtful or inquiring," it's no surprise that a skeptic is someone who asks a lot of questions — and isn't easily convinced.
Vocabulary lists containing skeptic
October Words
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The Suffix -ic, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Gibney didn’t initially come to the project as a Musk skeptic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
But financial planner Matthew Chancey, founder of Tax Alpha Companies in Tampa, Fla., is a skeptic.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy has shared mixed messaging on MMR vaccine, at times endorsing it and other times sharing unproven claims about its safety.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Count Mark Clifford a skeptic of the move.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
One skeptic suggested that authors’ descendants be allowed to sue mediums for signing their relative’s famous names to such dreadful new writing.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Thad Kousser, a UC-San Diego political science professor, said that electing election skeptics to office doesn’t necessarily mean that they will throw a wrench into the process.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Meta, OpenAI and others are associating their AI agents and tools with cute characters to win over skeptics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
While some skeptics say the danger of AI bioweapons is overblown, big AI developers say risks from their tools are increasing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Choi described two personality types, skeptics and frozen, that the group is targeting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
According to the skeptics, Maya society was divided into a small number of blocs, each controlled by a dominant city, each striving to achieve some semblance of empire.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
