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

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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”)

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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

“Cheesecake Factory” is still trending this morning on X as users argue about the brand’s place in society.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Snap intends to argue that it is different from other apps like Meta's Instagram and Facebook because of Snapchat's focus on primarily being a messaging platform.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

But ministers argue all of this doesn't mean the government is powerless.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

The ripple effects of previous midseason firings, you could argue, ended up setting USC back even further.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Miss Mortimer, wisely, did not argue with the children.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Zuckerberg, the academic argues, has long wanted Facebook to be much bigger than a single social network.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Fears that artificial intelligence assistants could replace agency distribution are overdone and premature, Berenberg argues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Andre McKechnie argues the Vegemite ban in Victoria's jails denies him the right to "enjoy his culture"

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Meanwhile, columnist Michael Kramer argues that investors looking for clues to the Fed’s next moves should pay less attention to interest rates and more to broader financial conditions.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

“You know I have school? And homework? This is going to take up a lot of my time,” Mustafa argues.

From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan

A few months later, the small state agency that maintains the official list of tribal contacts unveiled a proposal that some non-recognized tribes argued would effectively exclude them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

In contrast, Mitchell argued the national environment would actually help him.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

The rights watchdog argued that this would help cut pay discrimination, especially against women.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

They also argued that the case was moot because the advertising campaign was ending.

From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2026

The courtroom was crowded, largely with antiwar protestors who hissed as the government lawyers argued that the Times was violating the Espionage Act.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

And there they are, host and guest, still standing in the same imaginary room, arguing about the dishes.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

Writing in the journal Chemistry of Materials, they concluded that they had "yet to find any strikingly novel compounds", arguing that many were "trivial adaptations of known materials".

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

But Chris Smith, director of Netflix’s “Fyre,” refused McFarland’s demand for payment, arguing that it would be unethical for him to profit after defrauding so many people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Fielder objects, arguing that payment could cast doubt on the couple’s motives and suggest they had influence over the finished film.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

My chance of winning was so small there was no point in arguing over who wrote the better poem.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

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Related Words

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

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