skeptical

Pronunciation

• /ˈskɛptɪkəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English skeptic + -al;^[2][3][4] the British spelling is “sceptical”.^[2][4][5] The base skeptic comes from French sceptique and Latin scepticus,^[2][4][6][7] from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (skeptikós, “inquiring, reflective”),^[2][7][8] applied to the followers of the philosopher Pyrrho, the Skeptics,^[2][4][8] from σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look about, consider, examine”).^[4][6][7][8] Klein relates the Greek verb to the source of scope,^[7] and Etymonline and Ayto take its base as a reversed form of Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”), the root of spectator and speculate.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, inclined to doubt, mistrustful: 1639.^[9][10] The Shorter Oxford dates the adjective to the early 17th century,^[4] and Etymonline to the 1630s, noting that skeptic itself had been used as an adjective since the 1570s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed the history of skeptic, which first named the members of an ancient Greek school that doubted that real knowledge was possible (1580s), and by the early 17th century anyone with a doubting attitude.^[2][8] From the start skeptical had both the philosophical sense and the everyday one, dubious or incredulous.^[9][4] Its use of doctrines and opinions, as characteristic of a skeptic, is dated by the Shorter Oxford to the mid 18th century.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "doubtful; pretending to universal doubt", quoting Bentley on "the sceptical and wavering minds".^[11]

Timeline

• 1570s – skeptic used as an adjective.^[2]
• 1580s – skeptic, a member of the ancient Greek school of doubters.^[2]
• 1639 – skeptical, of a person, doubting.^[9][10]
• mid 18th century – of a doctrine or opinion, characteristic of a skeptic.^[4]
• 1755 – Johnson's definition, "doubtful; pretending to universal doubt".^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not easily convinced; having doubts about a claim, plan or idea: The voters were skeptical about the mayor's promises.^[5][10][4]
2. Relating to the philosophical theory that certain knowledge is impossible, or to skepticism and the ancient Skeptics.^[5][10][4]

Word family

• skeptically
• skepticalness
• antiskeptical
• nonskeptical
• overskeptical
• unskeptical

Related words

• skeptic
• skepticism
• scope

Usage notes

Skeptical is the American spelling;^[5][4] British and Commonwealth English write sceptical.^[5][1][4] The Shorter Oxford calls the sk- spelling archaic outside North America,^[4] and Hoad notes that the pronunciation with /sk/ has been influenced by the Greek.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.