Stoic | Definition of stoic by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of STOIC

1

capitalized : a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law

2

: one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain

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Examples of STOIC

“That would have been to dishonor him,” said Carr, a notorious stoic who was nearly overcome by emotion in his postgame press conference. Instead, he told the Wolverines that the best way to honor Schembechler was “to play in a way that would have made him proud.” —Austin Murphy, Sports Illustrated, 27 Nov. 2006
The philosophical implications of this claim are as volcanic as the emotions it depicts, for Nussbaum here counters an age-old view espoused by Stoics, Christians and Kantians, alike: emotions are disruptive and subversive to reason, they arise from parochial needs and interests and therefore the life well lived is the life in which the things of this world are left behind for a higher sphere beyond accident, pain and desire. —Wendy Steiner, New York Times Book Review, 18 Nov. 2001
Whereas Ludwig Wittgenstein once compared philosophers to garbage men sweeping the mind clean of wrongheaded concepts, Nussbaum believes they should be “lawyers for humanity”—a phrase she borrows from Seneca, her favorite Stoic thinker. —Robert S. Boynton, New York Times Magazine, 21 Nov. 1999
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Origin of STOIC

Middle English, from Latin stoicus, from Greek stōïkos, literally, of the portico, from Stoa (Poikilē) the Painted Portico, portico at Athens where Zeno taught

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Philosophy Terms

dialectic, dualism, epistemology, existentialism, metaphysics, ontology, sequitur, solipsism, transcendentalism

Full Definition of STOIC

1

capitalized : of, relating to, or resembling the Stoics (see ¹stoic) or their doctrines <Stoic logic>

2

: not affected by or showing passion or feeling; especially : firmly restraining response to pain or distress <a stoic indifference to cold>

— sto·ical·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Variants of STOIC

sto·ic or sto·i·cal \-i-kəl\

Examples of STOIC

My stoic Serbian brother-in-law, Aleksandar Vasilic, gave me the ultimate confidence booster of bawling all the way through the manuscript when I gave it to him to read. —Helene Cooper, The House At Sugar Beach, (2008) 2009
Grant recorded his thought-experiment when he was an old man dying of cancer, who in spite of his pain had managed to achieve a stoical serenity. —Jackson Lears, New Republic, 9 & 16 Sept. 2002
As it flew past the pole, a three-run homer, Richardson saw the stoical Berra do something he'd never seen him do. “Halfway between home and first, he was jumping up and down,” Richardson recalls. “Boy, was he happy to hit that ball!” —William Nack, Sports Illustrated, 23 Oct. 2000
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Origin of STOIC

(see ¹stoic)

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to STOIC

Synonyms: forbearing, long-suffering, patient (or stoical), tolerant, uncomplaining

Antonyms: complaining, fed up, impatient, kvetching, kvetchy, protesting

Synonym Discussion of STOIC

impassive, stoic, phlegmatic, apathetic, stolid mean unresponsive to something that might normally excite interest or emotion. impassive stresses the absence of any external sign of emotion in action or facial expression <met the news with an impassive look>. stoic implies an apparent indifference to pleasure or especially to pain often as a matter of principle or self-discipline <was resolutely stoic even in adversity>. phlegmatic implies a temperament or constitution hard to arouse <a phlegmatic man unmoved by tears>. apathetic may imply a puzzling or deplorable indifference or inertness <charitable appeals met an apathetic response>. stolid implies a habitual absence of interest, responsiveness, or curiosity <stolid workers wedded to routine>.