-isticdouble suffix ofadjs.andns.,corresp.to F. -istique, L. -isticus,Gr.-ιστικός,viz.the suffix -ικ-ός, -ic, added tons.in -ιστ-ής, -ist;e.g.σοϕιστικ-ός of, pertaining to, or like a sophist, sophistic; but also used where there is avb.in -ίζειν (-ize), orn.in -ισµός (-ism), and non.in -ιστής, as in χαρακτηριστικός characteristic. Not frequent inGr.; but more numerous inmed.L. andmod.langs.; and, inEng., supplying a derivativeadj.to manyns.in -ist:e.g.altruistic, antagonistic, atheistic, Calvinistic, deistic, egotistic, evangelistic, Hellenistic, idealistic, realistic, socialistic, etc. In many cases theadj.serves also to express the quality of then.in -ism,e.g.atheistic, of or pertaining to an atheist, or to atheism; hence it may be found in cases where an.in -ism, but none in -ist, is in use. It is rarely found with thens.in -ist in groups 2, 4, 4 b, or with those formed from proper names in 3.Words in -istic are essentiallyadj., but like otheradjs.in -ic, they are sometimes used asns.Like otheradjs.in -ic also, they sometimes have a secondary form in -istical,e.g.casuistical, deistical, egotistical, sophistical, etc., and on this type their adverbs are formed in -istically, as Calvinistically, characteristically, Hellenistically, sophistically. Some words in -istic originate verbs in -isticate,e.g.sophisticate.