Polemic

//pəˈlɛmɪk// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who writes in support of one opinion, doctrine, or system, in opposition to another; one skilled in polemics; a controversialist; a disputant.
  2. 2
    a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma) wordnet
  3. 3
    An argument or controversy.
  4. 4
    a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology) wordnet
  5. 5
    A strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Having the characteristics of a polemic.

    "A fourth hindrance is by some held to be, that many of our polemic publications are too polemic. Some hold that we should urge the simple Gospel, and make no attack on Hinduism or Muhammadanism ."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of or involving dispute or controversy wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
controversialistpolemicistpolemicistpolemicalaggressivealtercation

Antonyms

All antonyms
irenic

Example

More examples

"My father's little library consisted chiefly of books on polemic divinity, most of which I read."

Etymology

From French polémique, from Ancient Greek πολεμικός (polemikós, “of war”), from πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”).

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