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Ad hominem literally means "to the person" in New Latin (Latin as first used in post-medieval texts). In centuries past, this adjective typically modified argument. An "argument ad hominem" (or argumentum ad hominem, to use the full New Latin phrase) was a valid method of persuasion by which one took advantage of an opponent's interests or feelings in a debate, instead of just sticking to general principles. Ad hominem later came to be used to describe an attack aimed at an opponent's character, and this is the sense more often heard today. The hostile nature of such attacks has led to an understanding of the term as meaning "against the person," rather than its original Latin meaning of "to the person."
Examples of ad hominem in a Sentence
Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 13 June 2023
Part of the pleasure of the Lexicon is the simple fun of reading a takedown—more fun still because ad hominem insults were once a fixture of music criticism.
—Christopher Carroll, Harper's Magazine, 9 June 2023
His ad hominem insults against regulators and a heroic British Navy diver, as well as his interactions with flamboyant race-baiting figures and other diversions, seem less than smart.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2023
Krauze, writing of AMLO, says, His speeches are littered with ad hominem attacks. . .
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Apr. 2023
Adding to the predictability of his ad hominem attacks, Trump is also running out of new ways to describe his legal plight.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 10 Apr. 2023
Dallas News, 24 July 2022
Lower in the stories, the critics could toss in some ad hominem attacks on Washington, buttressed by the facts that America was already proven a troubled preacher of its values.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 6 Jan. 2023
Bargh has now written a post on his own blog decrying the replication while launching ad hominem attacks at the scientists behind it, PLoS ONE, and me.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 10 Mar. 2012
Where earlier generations of combat veterans in Congress became die-hard defenders of a global military footprint, the new cohort is unafraid to launch ad hominem attacks on the men who still lead U.S. forces.
—Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2022
She’s a practitioner of Trump’s scorched-earth style of politicking, leaving no ad hominem attack behind.
—Robert Robb, CNN, 31 Oct. 2022
The social media site has been a slough of hate speech, disinformation and ad hominem attack, contributing in a major way to the polluting of our politics.
—Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2022
In this instance, Clyburn is speaking to historical parallels and political trends, not launching the sort of ad hominem attacks necessary to win a defamation claim.
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2022
No one likes ad hominem attacks (ad birdinem?), especially people who like mourning doves, people like Susana Isaacson.
—Washington Post, 9 May 2022
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ad hominem.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Adjective
borrowed from New Latin, literally, "to the person"
Adverb
derivative of ad hominem entry 1
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Cite this Entry
“Ad hominem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ad%20hominem. Accessed 24 Sep. 2023.
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