as in disputant
a person who takes part in a dispute
the debater was unable to come up with a convincing rebuttal for his opponent's argument
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Recent Examples of debater
High school debaters are much more polite and reasonable, even compared to presidential candidates, the group’s president, Walt Breitinger, observed.
—
Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2026
Judging simply by the crowd’s response, the debaters arguing that CSOs remain relevant won handily.
—Justin Worland, Time, 20 Feb. 2026
Dylan Black, a SDA freshman who took the pilot course this year, said the class allowed students to learn more about each other and also become better debaters and thinkers.
—Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The fraud debaters offer many preferred litmus tests.
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
The college boys would gather around a charpoy set in front of the food stall, playing for cups of tea or plates of biscuits, contemplating the next move with the seriousness of parliamentary debaters, discussing strategy.
—Daniyal Mueenuddin, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Curtis and Kirk were indeed to be found on opposite ends of virtually every hot-button cultural issue on which the latter made his name as a debater and provocateur.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Her debaters warned of a slippery slope.
—Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Kirk became known as a fierce ― and controversial ― debater.
—Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2026
Judging simply by the crowd’s response, the debaters arguing that CSOs remain relevant won handily.
—Justin Worland, Time, 20 Feb. 2026
Dylan Black, a SDA freshman who took the pilot course this year, said the class allowed students to learn more about each other and also become better debaters and thinkers.
—Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The fraud debaters offer many preferred litmus tests.
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
The college boys would gather around a charpoy set in front of the food stall, playing for cups of tea or plates of biscuits, contemplating the next move with the seriousness of parliamentary debaters, discussing strategy.
—Daniyal Mueenuddin, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Curtis and Kirk were indeed to be found on opposite ends of virtually every hot-button cultural issue on which the latter made his name as a debater and provocateur.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Her debaters warned of a slippery slope.
—Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Kirk became known as a fierce ― and controversial ― debater.
—Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debater
Noun
-
The Jay Treaty asked the disputants merely to start a process leading to the appointment of arbitrators qualified to decide their disputes fairly and finally.—
Tom Bell,
Oc Register,
12 Apr. 2025
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The audience and actor are like disputants kept in different rooms, forbidden to see each other fully.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Four other people, including the defendant's cousin Ronald Crawley, were charged with helping kidnap Arnett.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
-
Investigators had 1,000 pages of messages between Campbell and Gerodemos and other co-defendants.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
Martha’s father, a law professor, had trained her to be a rational, step-by-step arguer.—
Cassandra Neyenesch,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
One of the plaintiffs was Buaite Againn, the investment vehicle run by Davis’ former BeautyKind business partner.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
12 May 2026
-
The plaintiffs in the California suit claim they were misled by deceptive labeling when purchasing the product more than a dozen times in California stores.—
Itzel Luna,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
Larson is already framing the battle as a fighter with a background in public schools and public housing versus an Ivy League graduate and Rhodes Scholar who grew up in Greenwich – one of the richest towns in the nation.—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 2026
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Cole Young, a MMA fighter and the last living descendant of the legendary warrior Hanzo Hasashi, was introduced as the would-be savior of Earthrealm.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
Beast Games, a spectacle of over-the-top competition, offers 1,000 contestants the chance to win a $5 million prize with other high-value prizes being doled out in the process.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
8 May 2026
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The contestant — last name not revealed — just won the largest prize in a single pricing game in the 54-year history of the CBS daytime game show.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
Housing advocates successfully lobbied the City Council Thursday night to shift away from plans to limit the number of bus stops to four, opening up the possibility that the law, California Senate Bill 79, could apply to as many as 52 bus stops.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 May 2026
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Signs were posted this week warning of a disruption and preservation advocates took the government to court as debris dumped there from the White House East Wing demolition tested positive for lead.—
Steven Sloan,
Fortune,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
Willis is a clear scrapper who can really move.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
As a result, a production version was never made, and the prototype was, like many project cars, sent to the scrapper.—
Brett Berk,
Robb Report,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debater. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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