polemical
Americanadjective
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consisting of or relating to a polemic; controversial or divisive.
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argumentative, combative or difficult.
noun
Other Word Forms
Explanation
The adjective polemical describes something related to an argument or controversy. To keep the peace, avoid discussing politics at Thanksgiving, which usually deteriorates into a polemical argument with Uncle Bob. Better stick to football or apple versus pumpkin pie. Polemical is the adjective form of the noun polemic, which itself comes from the Greek word, polemos, meaning "war." Use polemical to describe a controversy or argument that could end up as a huge conflict, because polemical refers to a major disagreement. The word is often used to describe speech and writing — a polemical discussion or a polemical essay — that usually starts a war of words.
Vocabulary lists containing polemical
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Scarlet Letter
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Introducing Rhetoric: Using the "Available Means" (Chapter 1)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Serpell’s tone is ardent and sometimes spicily polemical, but at heart this is informed, accessible literary analysis that demonstrates that Morrison’s true genius was as a stylist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
New York — “John Proctor Is the Villain,” the title of Kimberly Belflower’s Tony-nominated play, has a strong polemical ring.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2025
It wasn’t his now-ubiquitous polemical flourish, or even what that implied about his approach to governing.
From Salon • May 18, 2025
At the same time, groups that feel like they’re under attack will look for their own messengers to deliver polemical responses which reject every criticism and assign blame somewhere else; this is what “stanning” is.
From Slate • Dec. 19, 2024
As the invention of printing facilitated controversy, polemical zeal multiplied treatises to prove the iniquity of the Utraquist heresy, but the Utraquists were not to be converted.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
