ENGLISH
REFERENCE

agnostic

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //æɡˈnɑstɪk// UK //æɡnˈɒstɪk// ag·nos·tic Informal

n. not having a strong opinion on a topic, or believing that something cannot be known for sure. In technology, it describes software that works with any system or device.

n. uncommitted to a particular belief or view, originally regarding the existence of a deity. In computing contexts, it describes systems or software designed to be interoperable across various platforms without modification.


SIMPLE

I am completely agnostic about where we go for dinner tonight.

CONTEXTUAL

The developers built a cloud-agnostic application so the company wouldn't be locked into a single hosting provider.

COMPLEX

While he remained fiercely partisan on economic policy, he was surprisingly agnostic on social issues, preferring to let local municipalities dictate their own regulations.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870. Either from Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος (ágnōstos, “ignorant, not knowing”), or from a- + Gnostic, deriving (either way) from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not”) + γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “I know”).

Usage

Frequently forms hyphenated compounds in technical jargon, such as 'platform-agnostic', and takes the prepositions 'about' or 'on' in general usage.

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