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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

skep·ti·cism

Audio Help [skep-tuh-siz-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	skeptical attitude or temper; doubt.

2.	doubt or unbelief with regard to a religion, esp. Christianity.

3.	(initial capital letter) the doctrines or opinions of philosophical Skeptics; universal doubt.

Also, scepticism.

[Origin: 1640–50; < NL scepticismus, equiv. to L sceptic(us) skeptic + -ismus -ism

]

—Synonyms 1. questioning, probing, testing. 2. disbelief, atheism, agnosticism.

—Antonyms 2. faith.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
skepticism

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

skep·ti·cism also scep·ti·cism Audio Help (skěp'tĭ-sĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind; dubiety. See Synonyms at uncertainty.
Philosophy
1. The ancient school of Pyrrho of Elis that stressed the uncertainty of our beliefs in order to oppose dogmatism.
2. The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general.
3. A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.
Doubt or disbelief of religious tenets.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

skepticism
noun
1.	doubt about the truth of something [syn: incredulity]
2.	the disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge [syn: agnosticism]

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
skepticism

In philosophy, the position that what cannot be proved by reason should not be believed. One of the main tasks of epistemology is to find an answer to the charge of some extreme skeptics that no knowledge is possible.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Skepticism

Scep"tic\, Sceptical \Scep"tic*al\, Scepticism \Scep"ti*cism\, etc. See Skeptic, Skeptical, Skepticism, etc.

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