Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
A master of the art of dining, particularly learned conversation in the manner of Athenaeus's characters.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
someone skilled at informal chitchat
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: conversationalist, conversationist, schmoozer
History
From the 3rd-century Ancient Greek Δειπνοσοφισταί (Deipnosophistaí) by Athenaeus, derived from δειπνο- (deipno-, “deipno-, dinner-”) + σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “one knowledgeable in the arts of ~”). Sometimes misunderstood owing to confusion with pejorative senses of sophist.
