Sophist
Etymology
Greek "sophistes" meant a wise man or expert, then the paid teachers of rhetoric in fifth-century Athens who charged fees for the craft of persuasion. Plato’s attacks soured the word, so that "sophist" now means a purveyor of plausible fallacy.
noun · /SOF-ist/
A clever arguer who reasons persuasively but speciously, prizing victory over truth.
What it names
The skilled reasoner who uses logic as a weapon rather than a search — argument decoupled from honesty.
Example
He debated like a sophist, brilliant at making the weaker case sound stronger and utterly indifferent to which was true.
Related idea
The practitioner of sophistry, cousin to casuistry; a sophist’s gift is dressing the flimsier argument as the sounder one.
noun · /SOF-ist/
In ancient Greece, a professional teacher of rhetoric, argument, and public life who took fees for instruction.
What it names
the paid itinerant educators of classical Athens
Example
Protagoras and Gorgias were celebrated sophists who taught young Athenians the art of persuasion.
Related idea
The modern slur grew from suspicion of teachers who could make anyone eloquent on any side of a question.