adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Serving to refute, refutative, especially as part of a systematic interrogation; pertaining to rhetorical elenchus or cross-examination.

   "‘What lady?’ he asked in the elenctic tones of Lewis Carroll's caterpillar."

Example

More examples

"‘What lady?’ he asked in the elenctic tones of Lewis Carroll's caterpillar."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐλενκτικός (elenktikós, “refutative”).

Related phrases

elenctic methodcross examination

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.