skep tih sih zəm
noun
1. distrust or disbelief, or a general tendency to doubt and question.
example: The nutritionist’s claim of finding a cure for the disease was met with intense skepticism in the medical community.
2. doubt of the possibility of real or absolute knowledge, especially as a philosophical doctrine.
example: Descartes confronts skepticism and then defeats it with his conclusion that because he thinks, he must exist.
3. doubt or disbelief of religious claims to truth; agnosticism or atheism.
example: Religious skepticism produced philosophies based in reason.