jesuit
n. countablen. a member of a specific group of Catholic priests known for being very well-educated and focused on teaching. People sometimes use the word to describe someone who is very clever but perhaps a bit tricky in their arguments.
n. a member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St. Ignatius Loyola. When used figuratively, it refers to a person given to subtle, sophisticated, or sometimes casuistic reasoning.
The local university was founded by a Jesuit priest in the nineteenth century.
He received a rigorous Jesuit education that emphasized both classical languages and scientific inquiry.
The diplomat's Jesuitical approach to the treaty negotiations allowed him to navigate conflicting interests through incredibly precise, if somewhat evasive, linguistic distinctions.
Learned borrowing from New Latin Iēsūīta, from Latin Iēsūs + -īta.
Capitalised when referring to the religious order; often used as an attributive noun (e.g., 'Jesuit school').