polemic

English

Alternative forms

• polemick (obsolete)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French polémique, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek πολεμικός (polemikós, “of war”), from πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈlɛmɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmɪk

Noun

polemic (plural polemics)

1. A person who writes in support of one opinion, doctrine, or system, in opposition to another; one skilled in polemics; a controversialist; a disputant.
2. An argument or controversy.
4. A strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

Synonyms

• (person): controversialist, disputant, polemicist
• (strong verbal or written attack): harangue, screed, rant, tirade, philippic

Derived terms

• polemical
• polemically
• polemicist

Translations

argument or controversy

• Afrikaans: polemiek
• Belarusian: пале́міка f (paljémika)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 論戰／论战 (zh) (lùnzhàn), 论战 (zh) (lùnzhàn)

• Czech: polemika (cs) f
• Danish: polemik (da) c
• Dutch: polemiek (nl) f
• Finnish: polemiikki (fi)
• French: polémique (fr) f
• German: Polemik (de) f
• Icelandic: (book or pamphlet of polemic) deilurit n
• Italian: polemica (it) f
• Japanese: 論争 (ja) (ろんそう, ronsō)
• Macedonian: полемика f (polemika)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay:

  Jawi: ڤوليميک (ms)

  Rumi: polemik (ms)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: polemikk m

  Nynorsk: polemikk m

• Polish: polemika (pl) f
• Portuguese: polémica (pt) f (Portugal), polêmica (pt) f (Brazil)
• Russian: поле́мика (ru) f (polémika)
• Spanish: polémica (es) f
• Swedish: polemik (sv) c
• Turkish: polemik (tr)
• Ukrainian: поле́міка (uk) f (polémika)

Adjective

polemic (comparative more polemic, superlative most polemic)

1. Having the characteristics of a polemic.

Synonyms

• polemical

Translations

having the characteristics of a polemic

• Catalan: polèmic (ca)
• Danish: polemisk (da)
• Esperanto: polemika
• Finnish: poleeminen (fi)
• French: polémique (fr) m or f
• German: polemisch (de)
• Italian: polemico (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: polemisk (no)

  Nynorsk: polemisk

• Portuguese: polémico (pt) polêmico (pt) (Brasil)
• Spanish: polémico (es)
• Swedish: polemisk (sv)

Further reading

• “polemic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “polemic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• compile