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philosopher

noun

Simple meaning

A scholar or expert engaged in or contributing to philosophical inquiry.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fuhlahsuhfer

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IPA pronunciation (US)

fəˈlɑsəfɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

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Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A scholar or expert engaged in or contributing to philosophical inquiry.

  2. A specialist in philosophy

  3. A student of philosophy.

  4. originally

    A lover of wisdom.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

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More ways to use philosopher

  • “The old philosopher enjoyed debating ideas about life's meaning.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

natural philosophergreat philosophergreek philosopherpolitical philosopherenglish philosophermoral philosopheramerican philosophertrue philosopher

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • philosophynounDerived noun · specialist

    A belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school.

  • philosophicaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school.

  • philosophicallyadverbDerived adverb

    In a philosophic manner.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • existentialist philosophernounCompound term

    A philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable.

  • existential philosophernounCompound term

    A philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.