Polemics Definition & Meaning

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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 This led to the famous polemic in The Spectator in January in 1964 by Iain Macleod, a senior Tory who had declined to serve under Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as Home had become known after renouncing his peerage. — Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2022 Evans’s work sidesteps both polemic and propaganda. — Garth Greenwell, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2022 Win at All Costs is, in effect, a 350-page polemic which argues that the NOP’s transgressions are consistent with a ruthless Nike ethos where the ends always justify the means. — Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Online, 2 Oct. 2020 Such falsehoods aside, the most interesting aspect of Lavrov's polemic relates to his throwaway comments about Zelensky. — Anthony D. Kauders, CNN, 5 May 2022 In her barnstorming environmental polemic Silent Spring, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Rachel Carson fired a broadside against the unfettered use of chemicals by agricultural giants. — Shely Aronov, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022 His polemic appeared in the pan-African magazine Bingo, during preparations for the 1966 World Festival of Black Arts, in Dakar—a cultural début pageant for the continent’s newly independent nations. — Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2022 Many years ago, Jonathan Chait wrote a polemic in The New Republic arguing that Delaware was the worst state, for, among other things, its friendliness to corporate interest and its extremely loose regulatory standards. — The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 27 Oct. 2021 Madonna is Susan, a scrappy downtown hustler who has gotten herself embroiled in a vague scandal involving the Atlantic City mob (a subplot treated with such indifference that the film practically becomes a polemic about narrative priorities). — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021 See More

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.