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
Not focusing on data can drive a traditional debater crazy.
—
Lisa Pavia-Higel, The Conversation, 27 May 2026
Leaders can make that distinction explicit by asking debaters to move from critique to contribution.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Porter is a talented debater but seemed overly defensive about her past hot temper.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
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
Lisa Pavia-Higel, The Conversation, 27 May 2026
Leaders can make that distinction explicit by asking debaters to move from critique to contribution.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Porter is a talented debater but seemed overly defensive about her past hot temper.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
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
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
-
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
-
The corporate defendants are both incorporated in New York.—
Tracy Wright,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2026
-
All defendants except Samuel Machado are expected to return for a status conference and further arraignment on July 30.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
3 June 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
-
Jennifer Levi of the LGBTQ+ rights group GLAD Law, who represents the plaintiffs, applauded the decision.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
-
Their request was denied because the plaintiffs are considered general public consumers of art, rather than professional art buyers, and are also based in Normandy.—
Devorah Lauter,
ARTnews.com,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Given Coker’s track record and the desire to build attention for the new MMA league and its fighters, tournaments are expected to play a key role.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
2 June 2026
-
Few modern fighters have this feature, and the old F-18s cannot match it.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Previously, the show has been hosted by former Love Island contestant Maura Higgins, who rose to fame as a finalist in the fifth series of the ITV2 reality series in 2019.—
Carolyn Burt,
Oc Register,
29 May 2026
-
During the latest installment of the competition, Hollywood playfully called out Leith for a notably harsh critique of one of the contestant's culinary confections.—
Stacy Lambe,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Wildfire resiliency advocates are warning that the loss of these funds will leave the state vulnerable to devastation, and are calling on California’s next governor to take that threat seriously.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
-
Environmental advocates say the removal left communities in the dark about chemical risks in their backyards.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
30 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 6 Jun. 2026.
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