polemic

• polemick (obsolete)

From French polémique, from Ancient Greek πολεμικός (polemikós, “of war”), from πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”).

• IPA^(key): /pəˈlɛmɪk/, /pəˈliːmɪk/

• Audio (US, /-li-/)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmɪk, -iːmɪk

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.

   Synonyms: controversialist, disputant, polemicist

2. An argument or controversy.
3. A strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

   Synonyms: harangue, screed, rant, tirade, philippic

polemic (comparative more polemic, superlative most polemic)

1. Having the characteristics of a polemic.
   • 1893, Report of the Third Decennial Missionary Conference:

     A fourth hindrance is by some held to be, that many of our polemic publications are too polemic. Some hold that we should urge the simple Gospel, and make no attack on Hinduism or Muhammadanism .

   • 1995, Patrick Nicol Troy, Technological Change and the City:

     To explain some of these challenges, it is useful to take a brief and polemic look at the one area that is perhaps most fundamentally affected by the new conditions: the workplace.

   • 2017, Monisha Bajaj, Human Rights Education: Theory, Research, Praxis:

     Using a rather polemic tone, Mutua (2002) argues that interpretations of human rights are not neutral but very much embedded in cultural and political assumptions

• polemical

• “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.

• compile

Borrowed from French polémique.

polemic m or n (feminine singular polemică, masculine plural polemici, feminine and neuter plural polemice)

1. polemic