What does "eristic" mean?

One who makes specious arguments; one who is disputatious.

Eristic

Common synonyms include: aggressive, argumentative, bellicose, belligerent, bickering, combative.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
One who makes specious arguments; one who is disputatious.
2
the art of logical disputation (especially if specious) wordnet
3
A type of dialogue or argument where the participants do not have any reasonable goal. The aim is to argue for the sake of conflict, and often to see who can yell the loudest.
4
a person who disputes; who is good at or enjoys controversy wordnet

Adjective

1
Provoking strife, controversy or discord.
"c. 1810-1834? Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Waterland a specimen of admirable special pleading in the court of eristic logic"

Adjective

1
given to disputation for its own sake and often employing specious arguments wordnet

"c. 1810-1834? Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Waterland a specimen of admirable special pleading in the court of eristic logic"

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐριστικός (eristikós, “eager for strife”). See also Eris.

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