Relativist

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv.ɪst/

Definitions

1. An individual who advocates for the idea that knowledge and ethical values depend on varying circumstances or perspectives
2. A person who claims that truth and morality lack universal validity, being influenced by cultural or personal contexts
3. Someone who supports the view that understanding and moral principles vary according to different situations or viewpoints

Etymology: The suffix does most of the work here. "-ist" passed into English through Old French and Latin from the Greek "-istēs", a suffix that marked someone who practises or believes in something, and the relevant Greek ancestors go back through forms like "-izein" to a verb-making pattern. Attached to "relative", it produces a person who adopts the stance that the thing in question is relative rather than fixed. "Relative" itself came into English from Old French and Latin "relativus", meaning having reference to something else. Its core idea is connection: a relative truth is one that only makes sense in relation to a particular frame, observer, or culture. The word "relativist" follows the same path, so a relativist is someone who holds that a claim has to be judged against its surroundings rather than against one universal standard.

Synonyms: subjectivist

Antonyms: absolutist