polemic
/pəˈlɛmɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.64 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who writes in support of one opinion, doctrine, or system, in opposition to another; one skilled in polemics; a controversialist; a disputant.
noun
An argument or controversy.
adj
Having the characteristics of a polemic.
Example Sentences
- "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 ."
- "To explain some of these challenges, it is useful to take a brief and polemic look at the one area that is perhaps most fundamentally affected by the new conditions: the workplace."
- "Using a rather polemic tone, Mutua (2002) argues that interpretations of human rights are not neutral but very much embedded in cultural and political assumptions"
Etymology
From French polémique, from Ancient Greek πολεμικός (polemikós, “of war”), from πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”). By surface analysis, polem- + -ic.
Inflected Forms
polemics (plural)
polemick (alternative, obsolete)
more polemic (comparative)
most polemic (superlative)