Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A pretentious attitude of scholarship; superficial knowledgeability.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Superficial knowledge; unfounded pretense to profound or scientific knowledge.
Wiktionary
- n. The quality of showing opinions on at least one subject of which the perpetrator has little or no knowledge, the practice of this, an instance of the practice of this.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The knowledge of a sciolist; superficial knowledge.
WordNet 3.0
- n. pretentious superficiality of knowledge
Etymologies
- From Late Latin sciolus, smatterer, diminutive of Latin scius, knowing, from scīre, to know; see skei- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The marvelous restoration of its prosperity by the genius of Colbert, the ruin caused by the malign sciolism of Law, are familiar to all students of political economy.”
“But I've no doubt whatever, myself, that a great deal of this ancient lore, which we have been accustomed to regard as so much sciolism, not to say pure nonsense, had a germ of truth in it, and that truth I believe we are gradually beginning to re-discover.”
“And yet, even worse than this languorous inanition is the active policy of those who despise everything contemporary or native, and substitute sciolism for catholicity, contempt for analysis.”
“Religion was mostly superstition, science for the most part sciolism, popular education merely a means of forcing the stupid and repressing the bright, so that all the youth of the rising generation might conform to the same dull, dead level of democratic mediocrity.”
“It seemed to stand out in such sharp contrast with our latter-day sciolism and half-believed creeds, and to be flung into higher relief by the dark shadow of John Maltravers's ruined life.”
“Judge of what is true editorial sciolism when I tell you that Riemann -- who evidently believes in a rigid melodic structure -- has inserted an”
“All the peculiarities which ignorance or sciolism used to ridicule or reproach in the”
The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory (Periods of European Literature, vol. II)
“But the way in which these things are merged in and spoilt by a torrent of silliness, sciolism, and sheer nonsense is, even after one has known the book for forty years and more, still astounding.”
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century
“They might be called lyrics of culture, since they regard the perfection of the individual, -- the equipoise of heart and head, steadfast seriousness as opposed to showy sciolism, the preservation of hope and faith, -- as a noble object of emotion.”
“And the husks of culture are pedantry and sciolism.”
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sciolism’.
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Iaan
dirigisme, dystopia, cacotopia, ex ante, veritable, indefatigable, curmudgeon, desultory, antediluvian, transmogrify, pendent, elongate and 272 more...
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250 More Spelling Words
More words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
melisma, dioecious, jejunity, sialogogue, zingiber, zendik, dithyramb, pneuma, kachina, agiotage, baedeker, sabulous and 238 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Words without the letter E
chord, slur, anabaptist, anabolic, diabolic, turbid, torpid, somniloquist, trump, bipolar, dioxin, hydrocarbon and 107 more...
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phrontistery-s
from phrontistery.info
sabaton, sabbatarian, sabbulonarium, sabelline, sabin, sable, sabliere, sabot, sabretache, sabulous, saburration, saccade and 1593 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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-ism's -logies
acosmism, absurdism, absolutism, ableism, aestheticism, alarmism, allotheism, anachronism, animalculism, analogism, animatism, animism and 464 more...
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ubermensch's list
THE list
behoove, germane, imbroglio, pervicacious, squalid, bombastic, pudendum, chimera, crapulous, i-know-huh, ersatz, ennui and 8 more...
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Metawords
Talking about talking, writing about writing, etc.
epizeuxis, tautological, aptote, bibliophagist, parataxis, scriptorium, aposiopesis, variorum, chantefable, boustrophedon, psellism, adoxography and 51 more...
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SCI -words
scintilla is the most favoured one
with 95 listings
ironically more than a scintilla of recognitionsciaenid, sciaenoid, sciamachy, sciarid, sciatic, sciatica, sciatical, science, scienced, scient, scienter, sciental and 70 more...
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logos's list
A poor pathetic thing, but mine own.
invidious, lugubriousness, vilify, noisome, synastry, front and center, declension, conjugation, regnal, diphthong, circumlocution, bishopric and 141 more...
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Dan: You read this already. — Your p...
Long ago, I learned a useful habit from a good friend: Every time he looked up a word in his dictionary, he’d put a mark next to it. His explanation for this was vague at best, but I understood a...
dittography, haplology, haplography, idiomology, cacoepy, orthoepist, psellism, pronunciation spe..., galbe, theropod, publican, sciolist and 111 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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cutting words
sarcasm, sarx, sarcoptic, syssarcosis, shrew, shrewd, screed, scred, shroud, scroll, scrod, scrutiny and 326 more...
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wordhoard
dilatory, ataraxia, hermit, cabana, hut, dome, vestigial, porcine, crapulous, usufruct, curmudgeon, bombastic and 229 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sciolism.

bilby Che cavolo sarebbe un puchinello? Jun 2, 2009