sophist

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sophista, also sophistes, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “pursuer of wisdom”), from σοφίζομαι (sophízomai, “to become wise”).

noun

1. One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece.
2. (figurative) A teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning.
3. (figurative, by extension) One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
4. (dated) Alternative form of sophister (“university student who has completed at least one year”)