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# sceptic

noun (a sceptic, sceptics); adjective sceptical

«sceptic» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A sceptic is a person who doubts whether something is true and wants to see evidence before believing it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#m1)
2. A sceptic may doubt a particular idea, like "a climate sceptic", or doubt religious beliefs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science lessons, a healthy sceptic asks for evidence, tests claims and checks sources; online safety teaches pupils to be sceptical of fake news. In stories, the sceptic is the one who does not believe in ghosts until they see one. Phrases: "a bit of a sceptic", "remain a sceptic", "sceptical about".

### Examples

- My dad is a sceptic about adverts that promise miracles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x1)
- Scientists should be sceptics until there is good evidence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x2)
- Tom was a sceptic about ghosts until he heard the noise in the attic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x3)
- Be sceptical of websites that don't say who wrote them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x4)
- Even the sceptics were impressed by the magician. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x5)
- She remained a sceptic about the new diet. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/#x6)

### Note

British spelling: sceptic, sceptical; American spelling: skeptic, skeptical. Pronounced SKEP-tik (the c is hard, like k). Do not confuse with "septic" (infected with germs, as in a septic wound or septic tank), which sounds different.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «sceptic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sceptic/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sceptic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/sceptic.html) on Mova free.