argue

[ ahr-gyoo ]

verb (used without object)

, ar·gued, ar·gu·ing.

1. to present reasons for or against a thing:

   He argued in favor of capital punishment.

2. to contend in oral disagreement; dispute:

   The senator argued with the president about the new tax bill.

verb (used with object)

, ar·gued, ar·gu·ing.

1. to state the reasons for or against:

   The lawyers argued the case.

2. to maintain in reasoning:

   to argue that the news report must be wrong.

3. to persuade, drive, etc., by reasoning:

   to argue someone out of a plan.

4. to show; prove; imply; indicate:

   His clothes argue poverty.

argue

/ ˈɑːɡjuː /

verb

1. intr to quarrel; wrangle

   they were always arguing until I arrived

2. intr; often foll by for or against to present supporting or opposing reasons or cases in a dispute; reason
3. tr; may take a clause as object to try to prove by presenting reasons; maintain
4. tr; often passive to debate or discuss

   the case was fully argued before agreement was reached

5. tr to persuade

   he argued me into going

6. tr to give evidence of; suggest

   her looks argue despair

Derived Forms

• ˈarguer, noun

Other Words From

• argu·er noun
• counter·argue verb counterargued counterarguing
• over·argue verb overargued overarguing
• re·argue verb reargued rearguing
• well-argued adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of argue¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French arguer, from Latin argūtāre, argūtārī “to babble, chatter,” frequentative of arguere “to prove, assert, accuse” (in Medieval Latin: “to argue, reason”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of argue¹

C14: from Old French arguer to assert, charge with, from Latin arguere to make clear, accuse; related to Latin argūtus clear, argentum silver

Example Sentences

At the same time, though, he argued that businesses shouldn’t be the only ones subject to enforcement because business owners could build fines into their overall cost of operation.

From Voice of San Diego

How to make a martini your guests will love — or at least love to argue aboutChocolate Lava Cakes for Two.

From Washington Post

While officials argued that Mori’s presence at the helm of the organizing committee was needed to ensure the Games went ahead, it became apparent that his continued presence risked sinking the ship.

From Washington Post

Officials argue some of the payments were not yet due, some were tied up in appeals and some were in the process of being gathered.

From ProPublica

Many of these telecom giants argue through their primary lobbying arm, the trade group USTelecom, that Congress should finance phone and broadband benefits for low-income Americans on its own.

From Washington Post

In the book, Tavris and Aronson argue that the same ability to overlook minor flaws in a marriage leads to overlooking major ones.

From The Daily Beast

Mailer would argue, for example, that timidity does more harm to the novelist than donning a mask of extreme self-confidence.

From The Daily Beast

One could argue that this was never exactly hidden from her readers.

From The Daily Beast

“Women go to the bathroom together and gossip, talk and argue all the time,” Vithi Cuc told The National.

From The Daily Beast

Starting with the idea of androgyny, you argue that there is a woman in every man, and vice versa.

From The Daily Beast

"But I can't stop to argue about it now;" and, saying this, he turned into a side path, and disappeared in the wood.

From Project Gutenberg

This seemed entirely unnecessary to mine host, and he wanted to argue the point.

From Project Gutenberg

When people argue in this strain, I immediately assume the offensive.

From Project Gutenberg

But she knew it was useless to argue with Henry, so she hastily groped in the bag for the matches and handed them to her brother.

From Project Gutenberg

It would argue too much literary conceit on my part were I anxious to restore it to the light of day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• appeal
• assert
• claim
• contend
• defend
• demonstrate
• explain
• indicate
• maintain
• plead
• present
• suggest
• testify

When To Use

What are other ways to say argue?

To argue is to present reasons for or against a thing or to contend in oral disagreement. How does argue compare to discuss and debate? Find out on Thesaurus.com.