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What is a word to describe an individual who acts like an expert in a subject area, constantly stating facts and correcting people, but who actually has very little knowledge on the subject?

tchrist
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shea
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  • @Robusto: I assume you're thinking the difference is this one specifically mentions actually has very little knowledge on the subject. But the top answer on what I see as the "original" does actually say *know-it-all has a slightly negative connotation to it, because it implies that the person really doesn't know it all.* And I've been specifically advised not to refrain from closevoting simply because my rep for one of the tags means my vote will be unilaterally applied. Just following orders, guv! :) – FumbleFingers Aug 22 '15 at 15:25
  • This question addresses the 'bluffing' sense, unlike the non-dupe. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 22 '15 at 15:28
  • @Fumble: Interestingly enough, about half an hour before you closed this, the person who specifically advised you not to stint on CVs himself cast the slam-close vote and then rescinded it. In any case, this one adds the element of hypocrisy, which your proposed canonical does not. – Robusto Aug 22 '15 at 15:32
  • possible duplicate of Word for someone ignorant of, but not expected to be knowledgeable about, something – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 16:32
  • @Mari-LouA: That is not really a duplicate. The one you suggest requires the quality of no expectation (by others) of knowing anything, whereas this one requires that the person behave in a manner to lead people to believe the opposite. – Robusto Aug 22 '15 at 17:51
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    @Robusto I dunno, I think any of the answers posted so far are appropriate and could answer the "original" question. But there is an implied caveat which requires the term to be somewhat obscure, unusual, archaic, rare = "Word of the day". A poseur, for example, is none of those things. – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 18:01
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    I had some trouble finding the possible duplicate everyone is talking about. I'll post it here to make it easier for others reading this page. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/97604/an-idiom-to-describe-someone-who-thinks-he-she-is-wiser-than-others – aparente001 Aug 24 '15 at 12:56
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    All the answers so far (except perhaps tchrist’s, which I haven't quite deciphered yet) seem to assume that you are talking about someone who deliberately and falsely represent themselves as being experts while fully aware they are not—‘cheating’, as it were. This doesn't seem to be part of the question as it is worded, though. Are you asking about people like that specifically, or equally about people who themselves think they are experts on something, but objectively seen know little about it? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 24 '15 at 13:26
  • @JanusBahsJacquet I agree with you--there's a difference between knowingly doing something (a fraud, pretender or charlatan) and someone who unknowingly does something (a fool or ignoramus.) – michael_timofeev Aug 24 '15 at 14:53
  • @JanusBahsJacquet An ultracrepidarian is unaware that he has given advice on matters above his expertise (hence the name), and the morosoph is as clueless about his own foolishness as any other sophomore. – tchrist Aug 25 '15 at 03:21
  • @JanusBahsJacquet I was looking for someone who is unconsciously doing so, perhaps as a result of enthusiasm, and not someone who is being deliberately 'cheating'. Perhaps I should have added more context – shea Aug 26 '15 at 09:20

8 Answers8

21

Cryptonescient Morosophs and Ultracrepidarians

The cryptonescient are best described as morosophs and ultracrepidarians, as any philodox or sumpsimus drawn into this epeolatrous logomachy like a saturniïd to a pharol will deliciate in apprising you with all due impigrity.

Those epithets you may freely employ safe from all risk of nettling even the most inveterate of doryphores, for even if this should fail to deliver the recumbentibus you’re looking for, it should at least jargogle your nemetic opsimath long enough for you to avolate undetected under the supervenient obnubilation.

Community
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tchrist
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    Come again? Could you link all those fancy words to dictionary references, please. – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 16:36
  • @Mari-LouA Could it be he's providing a working example of the creature described in the OP? Just asking... – Jim Mack Aug 22 '15 at 16:44
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    No, our lad tchrist knows his stuff. I just didn't find definitions for all the weird and wonderful words that are crammed in this post, using Chrome dictionary. – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 16:47
  • @Mari-LouA I could, but linking to the OED does little good to unsubscribers. Just double-click the word to highlight it, ring-click to pull up a menu, and then select whichever menu item your own browser uses for looking things up or googling them. – tchrist Aug 22 '15 at 16:48
  • For example for philodox, chrome dictionary brings up werewolf, which is weird. And my browser dictionary gives up on pharol. I shall have to google them. – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 16:50
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    @Mari-LouA OED: *“philodox* /ˈfɪlədɒks/. rare. Etymology: ad. Gr. φιλόδοξ-ος adj. (Plato), loving fame or glory, f. φιλο- philo- + δόξα glory (also opinion, etc.). Properly, One who loves fame or glory; but taken (after orthodox) as = One who loves his own opinion; an argumentative or dogmatic person. So philoˈdoxical a.” – tchrist Aug 22 '15 at 16:52
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    For those who care: pharol; impigrity and recumbentibus – Mari-Lou A Aug 22 '15 at 16:57
  • @Mari-LouA Farol is a normal word in Spanish, which is why I knew it, and figures in many old songs. Faro is also a Portuguese city in the Algarve named for its lighthouse. All derive from the Greek. – tchrist Aug 22 '15 at 17:15
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    You had me until 'obnubilation'. That just didn't make sense. – Mitch Aug 22 '15 at 19:03
  • I recognized a good number of those words. – Jasper Locke Aug 25 '15 at 12:14
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    "Ultracrepidarian" seems to fit what I had in mind, thanks! – shea Aug 26 '15 at 09:25
  • Hang on… saturnid? One i? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 05 '15 at 21:27
  • @JanusBahsJacquet Depends how you want to to anglicize the Latin family name Saturniidae (which indeed has two i’s). Most sources speak of Saturnid moths with just one i, and that is the form I learned as a child. – tchrist Sep 05 '15 at 21:30
  • Hmm… well, I’ve never seen it before (granted, I don’t read much about moths), and Ngrams has the double-i’ed version as more common. A simple Google search also gives about 35,000 for “saturniid moth” and less than 5,000 for “saturnid moth”. The OED doesn’t have saturnid at all (no hits in COCA for either). Perhaps a regional thing? I assume it’s trisyllabic for you too? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 05 '15 at 21:34
  • @JanusBahsJacquet It’s probably because I was brought up on the Peterson field guide, which has the single-i spelling. But yes, it has three syllables for me. – tchrist Sep 05 '15 at 21:37
  • @JanusBahsJacquet Oh very well, I’ll give it its double-i — suitably diæ̈reticked. :) – tchrist Jul 12 '17 at 02:56
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Charlatan = a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charlatan

Sankarane
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  • This was incorrect in the duplicate-or-is-it, but works well here. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 22 '15 at 15:25
  • FYI, the duplicate-or-is-it link Edwin mentioned: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/97604/an-idiom-to-describe-someone-who-thinks-he-she-is-wiser-than-others – aparente001 Aug 24 '15 at 13:04
  • Thanks; this link was posted earlier, when a member thought mistakenly that this was a duplicate. But that's totally different. Someone who acts like (s)he's smarter than everyone else versus someone who acts like an expert in a particular field. – Sankarane Aug 24 '15 at 14:57
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This sounds like a poseur (M-W),

a person who pretends to be what he or she is not

In this case, posing as a knowledgeable person.

Jim Mack
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The word dilettante might work. Dilettante is used to describe an amateur who pretends to be very knowledgeable.

tchrist
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Victor
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Although it's a bit general and broad in meaning, my suggestion is pretender:

  • a person who pretends, especially for a dishonest purpose.
  • a person who makes unjustified or false claims, statements, etc., as about personal status, abilities, intentions, or the like

For example:

Could he pretend to be a doctor? He knew a fair bit, from Cathy's pregnancies, her motorcycle accident, his father's stroke, Suzie's addictions. (from Under the Skin by Michel Faber)

tchrist
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Eilia
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Fraud. This is a very good word.

tchrist
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user116032
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Bluffer

From bluff, "to impress, deter, or intimidate by a false display of confidence"

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

Also, I'm not sure if

know-it-all

was explicitly proposed for this question.

aparente001
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Such a person could be described as an armchair expert or armchair pundit.

From Oxford Dictionaries Online:

[as modifier] Lacking or not involving practical or direct experience of a particular subject or activity: an armchair traveller

Example sentences:

The result is a unique perspective applauded by armchair naturalists in which the stars of the film are also the videographers.

What do these armchair counter-terrorists propose that Moscow should have done?

Almost all other commentary was grotesque - the work of armchair generals.

See also this article: 'Edward Sapir was not an "armchair linguist"!'

tchrist
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EleventhDoctor
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