Definition of "philosophaster" [phi•los•o•phas•ter]

• A pretender to philosophy; a petty or charlatan philosopher. (noun)

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• "Shylock chimes with the jewbaiting that followed the hanging and quartering of the queen's leech Lopez, his jew's heart being plucked forth while the sheeny was yet alive: _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth_ with the coming to the throne of a Scotch philosophaster with a turn for witchroasting."