Word
agnostic
Phoneticsag·nos·tic
US/æɡˈnɑstɪk/
UK/æɡnˈɒstɪk/
Definitions
01religious belief
n. someone who believes that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not.
n. a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality, such as God, is unknown and probably unknowable.
“He described himself as an agnostic because he felt there wasn't enough evidence to prove or disprove God.”
“While his parents were devoutly religious, he remained a lifelong agnostic, maintaining that human reason is insufficient to grasp the nature of the divine.”
Formal
Synonyms
02technical compatibility
adj. software or hardware that can work with many different types of systems or brands.
adj. designed to be compatible with various different operating systems, hardware platforms, or file formats.
“The new app is platform-agnostic, so it works perfectly on both Android and iPhones.”
“The developers prioritised an agnostic architecture to ensure the software could be deployed across diverse cloud environments without significant reconfiguration.”
Technical
Usage
Usually follows the noun it modifies, such as 'platform-agnostic' or 'device-agnostic'.
Synonyms
Antonyms
03having no opinion
adj. not having a strong opinion or not choosing a side in a specific argument.
adj. taking no firm position on a particular issue; noncommittal or indifferent to specific details.
“I am agnostic about which color we paint the office as long as it looks professional.”
“The CEO remained agnostic regarding the choice of vendor, insisting only that the final selection meet the company's rigorous security standards.”
Informal
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Graves said that he was agnostic about aliens.” Etymology
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/agnostic