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

"Rich pickings", reads the headline of the Sunday People, homing in on campaigners who argue that a wealth tax "could help so many".

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The activists may argue that the post was not in earnest, and that no one involved ever seriously intended to bring pills into Texas.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

You could argue that the managers of costlier ETFs are just charging whatever the market will bear, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Carney has repeatedly cited the proposed pipeline to argue for Alberta's future prosperity within a united Canada.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

The way I was feeling, I didn’t even argue with Mama.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

EchoStar shares have room to surge as much as 67%, argues a newly bullish J.P.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The vote of five siblings to sell the shares triggered the termination clause in the trust, and the filing argues that the trust doesn’t grant trustees discretion to disregard a valid vote to terminate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

While activists and heroes usually get most of the public’s attention, queer historian and author Timothy Stewart-Winter argues that it’s just as important to focus on the more complicated figures.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

The lawsuit argues that this establishes negligence under Philippine law.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Slowly, I walk from the field as everyone argues about how to get rid of Mimi so they can resume play.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

In their article, however, von Foerster and his co-authors argued that as far as populations go, humans may be exceptional.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Krems argued in court that his client should be freed because his health is deteriorating in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

In a letter to director general Matt Brittin, actors, writers, directors and sound engineers argued that moving recordings away from the Midlands would have a "tangible impact" on the programme.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

In 2008, John Swansburg argued that we should ditch this particular festivity: “Seems like a nice idea, the birthday dinner. It is not. It is a tedious, wretched affair.”

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

When they argued, which happened fairly often, Paul usually came out on top—or if he didn’t, Jim felt compelled to make him think that he had.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

In September 2022, Salazar filed a class-action lawsuit, arguing that Paramount violated the VPPA.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

Over recent meetings, Pill has voted against the majority and in favor of a rate rise, arguing that policymakers couldn’t afford to wait for clarity on the duration and impact of the conflict.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

“A conventional data center ordinarily performs an entirely different function,” she wrote, arguing data centers aren’t in play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

The two Asian powers have often found common ground at UN climate negotiations, pushing back against Western demands for emissions cuts and arguing that developing countries should not bear the same burden as industrialised nations.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

I could understand that they were arguing over me, however.

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

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Related Words

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

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