sophist

1. a. One skilled in elaborate and devious argumentation.
   b. A scholar or thinker.
2. Sophist Any of a group of professional fifth-century B.C. Greek philosophers and teachers who speculated on theology, metaphysics, and the sciences, and who were later characterized by Plato as superficial manipulators of rhetoric and dialectic.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English sophiste

Origin: , from Latin sophista

Origin: , from Greek sophistēs

Origin: , from sophizesthai, to become wise

Origin: , from sophos, clever