Socrates

American

[sok-ruh-teez] / ˈsɒk rəˌtiz /

noun

469?–399 b.c., Athenian philosopher.

Socrates British

/ ˈsɒkrəˌtiːz /

noun

?470–399 _bc , Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. He taught that virtue was based on knowledge, which was attained by a dialectical process that took into account many aspects of a stated hypothesis. He was indicted for impiety and corruption of youth (399) and was condemned to death. He refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Socrates Cultural

An ancient Greek philosopher who was the teacher of Plato.

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Socrates said that an oracle of the gods had pronounced him the wisest of all people, because he knew how little he knew.

When Socrates was an old man, the citizens of Athens (see also Athens) condemned him to death, alleging that he denied the reality of the gods and corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates calmly drank the poison he was given — hemlock — and died a noble death.

The Socratic method of teaching proceeds by question and answer as opposed to lecture.

Other Word Forms

anti-Socrates adjective
pro-Socrates adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The question of democratic rage is timeless, and Mr. Turley’s historical narrative is sweeping—from the trial of Socrates to the rhetoric of Huey Long.

From The Wall Street Journal

She intended them “to cement her status as a sacrificial figure in the image of Socrates,” Ms. Stalnaker writes.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s a lovely image: Kirk as a modern-day Socrates, wandering the agora of America’s universities seeking to find truth by means of rhetorical contest.

From Salon

In the humanities and philosophy, figures like Socrates remind us that knowledge begins with recognizing the limits of our understanding.

From Salon

This concept is not new: The Greek philosopher Socrates was afraid that the invention of writing would make humans dumber because we wouldn’t exercise our memory as much.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023