Definition of POLEMIC

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When polemic was borrowed into English from French polemique in the mid-17th century, it referred (as it still can) to a type of hostile attack on someone's ideas. The word traces back to Greek polemikos, which means "warlike" or "hostile" and in turn comes from the Greek noun polemos, meaning "war." Other, considerably less common descendants of polemos in English include polemarch ("a chieftain or military commander in ancient Greece"), polemoscope (a kind of binoculars with an oblique mirror), and polemology ("the study of war").

Examples of polemic in a Sentence

Her book is a fierce polemic against the inequalities in our society. They managed to discuss the issues without resorting to polemics.

Recent Examples on the Web

The author’s polemic against bucket lists overlooks their core principle: self-reflection. — WSJ, "Bucket Lists Reflect One’s Philosophy, Goals," 27 July 2018 In a wounding polemic, Irving Howe attacked Roth for his vulgarity. — Jeet Heer, The New Republic, "Commentary still can’t forgive Philip Roth.," 24 May 2018 In book after book, the authors include pages-long polemics about the nationalization of the police system, Stockholm’s overdevelopment and the miseries of urban life, and the many demographics that had fallen through society’s cracks. — Alice Bolin, Longreads, "The Daughter as Detective," 26 June 2018 Once a music journalist, Moran is a British writer of feminist polemic. — Eve Barlow, GQ, "15 Hours With Hinds, Spain's Wildest Rock Band," 25 June 2018 At first glance, her new book, Natural Causes, is a polemic against wellness culture and the institutions that sustain it. — Gabriel Winant, The New Republic, "Barbara Ehrenreich’s radical critique of wellness and self-improvement," 23 May 2018 Mining the historical relationship between King Edward II of England (1284-1327) and his courtier Piers Gaveston, the 90-minute opera doesn’t seize on the story for a polemic on behalf of gay love. — New York Times, "Review: A Long-Awaited New Opera Is a Raucous Beauty," 11 May 2018 That bit of plotting might sound overly convenient, but Schrader, never pretending to be writing anything other than a polemic, gives it a terribly persuasive banality. — Justin Chang, latimes.com, "The bracing 'First Reformed,' starring a superb Ethan Hawke, resurrects Paul Schrader's career," 17 May 2018 Besides, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit works better as a polemic than as a novel, with ideas stated clearly to the point of repetitiousness. — Daniel D'addario, Time, "HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 Extinguishes What Made the Book Great," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'polemic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.