'antisophistry' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') combined with 'sophistry', which ultimately derives from Greek 'sophistēs'/'sophia' meaning 'wise, wisdom'.

'antisophistry' is a modern compound formed by adding the productive prefix 'anti-' to the existing English noun 'sophistry' (which came into English via Latin and Old French from Greek 'sophistēs'); the modern English compound follows the transparent pattern 'anti-' + 'sophistry'.

Initially, compounds with 'anti-' plus a noun would mean simply 'against [noun]'; in use, 'antisophistry' has come to mean specifically 'active opposition to deceptive or specious argument', emphasizing exposure and critique rather than mere disagreement.