dialectic

noun

di·​a·​lec·​tic ˌdī-ə-ˈlek-tik 

1

philosophy : logic sense 1a(1)

2

philosophy

a

: discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation

specifically : the Socratic techniques of exposing false beliefs and eliciting truth

b

: the Platonic (see platonic sense 1) investigation of the eternal ideas

3

philosophy : the logic of appearances and of illusions : the logic of fallacy

the dialectic of Kant

4

philosophy

a

: the Hegelian process of change in which a concept or its realization passes over into and is preserved and fulfilled by its opposite

also : the critical investigation of this process

b Marxism

(1)

usually dialectics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : development through the stages of thesis (see thesis sense 4), antithesis, and synthesis (see synthesis sense 2b) in accordance with the laws of dialectical materialism

(2)

: the investigation of this process

(3)

: the theoretical application of this process especially in the social sciences

5

usually dialectics plural in form but singular or plural in construction philosophy

a

: any systematic reasoning, exposition (see exposition sense 2a), or argument that juxtaposes opposed or contradictory ideas and usually seeks to resolve their conflict : a method of examining and discussing opposing ideas in order to find the truth

b

: an intellectual exchange of ideas

6

philosophy : the dialectical tension or opposition between two interacting forces or elements

Did you know?

Dialectic: Logic Through Conversation

Dialectic is a term used in philosophy, and the fact that it is closely connected to the ideas of Socrates and Plato is completely logical—even from an etymological point of view. Plato’s famous dialogues frequently presented Socrates playing a leading role, and dialogue comes from the Greek roots dia- (“through” or “across”) and -logue (“discourse” or “talk”). Dialect and dialectic come from dialecktos (“conversation” or “dialect”) and ultimately back to the Greek word dialegesthai, meaning “to converse.”

Conversation or dialogue was indeed at the heart of the “Socratic method,” through which Socrates would ask probing questions which cumulatively revealed his students’ unsupported assumptions and misconceptions. The goal, according to the definition in our Unabridged Dictionary, was to “elicit a clear and consistent expression of something supposed to be implicitly known by all rational beings.”

Other philosophers had specific uses of the term dialectic, including Aristotelianism, Stoicism, Kantianism, Hegelianism, and Marxism. Asking a series of questions was considered by Socrates a method of “giving birth” to the truth, and a related word, maieutic, defined as “relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from another,” comes from the Greek word meaning “of midwifery.”

Examples of dialectic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Over that same decade, the dialectic of populist and elite politics and culture also shaped planning for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration of the American Revolution, perhaps the farthest-reaching civic project ever attempted in the United States. —Katy Siegel, Artforum, 2 June 2026

The answer—spoiler alert—is that the protagonist’s ideology convinces him that his own false arrest must be a correct, scientific application of the Marxist dialectic. —Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026

Both Trotsky and Paul get absorbed in quarrelsome dialectics and in point-scoring built around minute differences. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

In his Phaedrus, Plato attacked reading as corrupting true philosophical dialectic. —Big Think, 11 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dialetik, from Anglo-French dialetiqe, from Latin dialectica, from Greek dialektikē, from feminine of dialektikos of conversation, from dialektos — see dialect

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dialectic

• cachectic
• eclectic
• eutectic
• symplectic
• apoplectic
• hectic
• pectic
• smectic