argue

American  

[ahr-gyoo] / ˈɑr gju /

verb (used without object)

argues, present (3rd person singular) argued, past participle, past arguing present participle

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.

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verb (used with object)

argues, present (3rd person singular) argued, past participle, past arguing present participle

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 British  

/ 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

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Usage

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. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• arguer
  noun
• counterargue
  verb
• overargue
  verb
• reargue
  verb
• well-argued
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• arguing
  present
• argued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• argue
  simple
• argues
  simple
• have argued
  perfect
• has argued
  perfect
• am arguing
  progressive
• are arguing
  progressive
• is arguing
  progressive
• have been arguing
  perfect progressive
• has been arguing
  perfect progressive

Past

• argued
  simple
• had argued
  perfect
• was arguing
  progressive
• were arguing
  progressive
• had been arguing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will argue
  simple
• will have argued
  perfect
• will be arguing
  progressive
• will have been arguing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of argue

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”)

Explanation

When people argue, they disagree with each other, sometimes loudly. You don’t always have to yell when you argue, though, sometimes you’re just trying to prove a point. If your mom tells you to be home for dinner, don’t argue! When you think of the word argue, you might think of angry people screaming at one another, but that’s only one meaning of this verb. The other is "to present reasons and evidence about a stance or opinion." For example, if you give a speech in support of world peace, you might argue that nations accomplish more when they work together, giving examples to support this idea. When you present reasons why you believe in something, you argue for it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

argue argues argued arguing

Wat directs them to leave immediately but Max starts to argue about the exit plan and soon enough those crazy kids are on their own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Some critics argue Anthropic itself has built models through a process that resembles distillation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Some argue that a mosque much larger than the nearby Japanese Shinto shrine is disrespectful.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Advocates of private-school voucher programs argue against restrictions on how the schools operate and push back against the type of oversight enforced on public schools.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

Even though Duane had very serious concerns about the plan that Magic was suggesting, he didn’t feel strong enough to argue.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Part of the answer, he argues, lies in what he calls "SIMIs" - seemingly insignificant minor interactions.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

The suit argues that owning the Golden Globes would “solidify a vertical and horizontal monopoly on the awards market.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Krishna Chintalapalli, portfolio manager at Parnassus Investments, argues that the changes are good news.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Nadira Goffe argues that watching the film in 4DX—which features, among other things, scents, moving chairs, and sprays of water—is the superior way to experience the epic adventure.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

He views science as an integrated web of interconnecting hypotheses, procedures, and formalisms, and argues that any impact of the world on the web can be distributed in many different ways.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

ANL has argued the claimants should pay back full costs incurred by the publisher and has applied for the costs to be paid on an indemnity basis - a more favourable financial payout.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

MarketWatch: Your seminal 1975 Financial Analysts Journal article, “The Loser’s Game,” argued that most professional money managers cannot beat the market.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Swonk argued that the "hawks" at the Fed -- those policymakers who consider it appropriate to raise interest rates to combat high prices -- were multiplying.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Plaintiffs in the case, who filed their lawsuit in June 2025, argued that the discovery “flatly disproves” representations the government made in pursuit of the stay.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

“Perhaps it was just passing through,” argued Aunt Shuvai.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Opposition MPs later mocked some of those efforts in parliament, arguing it was easier to change camera angles than answer students' concerns.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

The fact that human-rights organizations globally and in Israel cite scholarly publications to support their arguments cannot be the basis for arguing the existence of an antisemitic conspiracy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Many such groups advocated for the restoration of Measure J, arguing that it was necessary to serve the will of the voters and provide crucial alternatives to the carceral system.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Along with Minneapolis and St. Paul, it challenged Operation Metro Surge by arguing that the federal government had disrupted schools, businesses, emergency services, municipal resources, streets, and the trust on which local governance depends.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

I could hear the villagers talking—or was it arguing?

From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate

Related Words

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