# agnostic

/æɡˈnɑstɪk/ (US) · /æɡnˈɒstɪk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/agnostic
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. religious belief

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

someone who believes that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not.

For teachers: 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.

### 2. technical compatibility

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

software or hardware that can work with many different types of systems or brands.

For teachers: 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.

Usage: Usually follows the noun it modifies, such as 'platform-agnostic' or 'device-agnostic'.

### 3. having no opinion

adjective · CEFR C2 · Informal

not having a strong opinion or not choosing a side in a specific argument.

For teachers: 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.

## Examples

- I am completely agnostic about where we go for dinner tonight.
- The developers built a cloud-agnostic application so the company wouldn't be locked into a single hosting provider.
- While he remained fiercely partisan on economic policy, he was surprisingly agnostic on social issues, preferring to let local municipalities dictate their own regulations.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.