Showing results for "polemics"

• plural of polemic.

polemics

American  

[puh-lem-iks, poh-] / pəˈlɛm ɪks, poʊ- /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. the art or practice of disputation or controversy.

   a master of polemics.

2. the branch of theology dealing with the history or conduct of ecclesiastical disputation and controversy.

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polemics British  

/ pəˈlɛmɪks /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the art or practice of dispute or argument, as in attacking or defending a doctrine or belief

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Etymology

Origin of polemics

First recorded in 1630–40; see origin at polemic, -ics

Example Sentences

As the premier outlined a programme that included reforms of the justice system and state bureaucracy, he added: “Politics doesn’t need conflicts. Polemics and marking out our differences do not help.”

From The Guardian • Dec. 30, 2019

Polemics about his more enigmatic characteristics, the search for a way to get him to play his best and how to fit him in the tactical scheme of things, bubbled from the off.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2018

“It is a deadly question,” says the literary critic Anis Shivani, author of the 2011 book “Against the Workshop: Provocations, Polemics, Controversies.”

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2015

Polemics made aggressive arguments in church or at court.

From BusinessWeek • Sep. 4, 2014

Polemics may reduce an adversary to silence, may often humiliate him, may sometimes irritate him, but they will never convince him. 

From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6 Volume 2 by Huc, Évariste Régis