discourse
Americannoun
-
communication of thought by words; talk; conversation.
earnest and intelligent discourse.
- Synonyms:
- parley, chat, dialogue, colloquy, discussion
-
a formal discussion of a subject in speech or writing, as a dissertation, treatise, sermon, etc.
-
Linguistics. any unit of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence.
verb (used without object)
-
to communicate thoughts orally; talk; converse.
-
to treat of a subject formally in speech or writing.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
verbal communication; talk; conversation
-
a formal treatment of a subject in speech or writing, such as a sermon or dissertation
-
a unit of text used by linguists for the analysis of linguistic phenomena that range over more than one sentence
-
archaic the ability to reason or the reasoning process
verb
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(intr; often foll by on or upon) to speak or write (about) formally and extensively
-
(intr) to hold a discussion
-
archaic (tr) to give forth (music)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
discoursesimple
-
discoursessimple
-
have discoursedperfect
-
has discoursedperfect
-
am discoursingprogressive
-
are discoursingprogressive
-
is discoursingprogressive
-
have been discoursingperfect progressive
-
has been discoursingperfect progressive
Past
-
discoursedsimple
-
had discoursedperfect
-
was discoursingprogressive
-
were discoursingprogressive
-
had been discoursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discourse
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English discours, from Medieval Latin discursus (spelling by influence of Middle English cours “course”), Late Latin: “conversation,” Latin: “a run back and forth,” noun use of past participle of discurrere “to run about,” from dis- dis- 1 + currere “to run”
Explanation
If you use the word discourse, you are describing a formal and intense discussion or debate. The noun discourse comes from the Latin discursus to mean "an argument." But luckily, that kind of argument does not mean people fighting or coming to blows. The argument in discourse refers to an exchange of ideas — sometimes heated — that often follows a kind of order and give-and-take between the participants. It's the kind of argument and discussion that teachers love, so discourse away!
Vocabulary lists containing discourse
Othello
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Rhetoric
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Grade 11, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
“But I do think we have a lot of data points at this point, and that should point us to be much more optimistic than I believe the current discourse reflects.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
With Parsons now adapting the Backrooms for a feature-length horror thriller, the strange fictive world is rapidly entering mainstream discourse.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
That is the way out of the discourse doom loop and into the solution.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
He also said the "increasing relentlessness in public discourse" had given him "deep pause for thought".
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
The assembled, who knew not Dr. Trefusis’s prankish humor, little knew what to make of this curious discourse.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Mr. Howard has come to biography writing after a distinguished career in publishing at Doubleday Books, and he discourses with knowledge and zeal about Cowley’s second act as a revivalist and gatekeeper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
The groups - known as akharas - have set up sprawling camps which have been a hive of activity, with tens of thousands of pilgrims visiting to hear religious discourses or attend evening prayers.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
Or, instead, could former President Trump’s extended discourses demonstrate his genius — an ability, as he says, to “weave” disparate stories into a beautiful tapestry?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
As the self-promoting overseer of X, he holds outsize influence over the countries whose political and electoral discourses still—for persistent lack of better alternatives—center on the text-based platform once known to them as Twitter.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2024
Dr. Roland’s discourses on his “practices” could sometimes take half an hour or more.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
On Wednesday, Ono discoursed on group theory and theorems of Lagrange and Fermat as students watched him sketch, with a sure and rapid hand, the symbols of high-level math.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2020
Our guide, young but practiced in the art of distracting cold tourists, poured hot berry juice and discoursed on Arctic matters.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
He discoursed on the supremacy of brown antlers — which are fresh with blood — to white ones.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2018
According to the film historian Kevin Brownlow, the crew sometimes took the film out of the camera and continued to crank as Tree discoursed, so as not to waste precious feet of celluloid.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2015
So we halted for about ten minutes under the scaffolding of the men who were doing some repair work on the edifice, while Burns discoursed eloquently on the well-known facts of British history.
From Under Four Administrations From Cleveland to Taft by Straus, Oscar S.
He’s discoursing about homelessness in San Francisco when on comes a guest.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2023
Deploying broad historical knowledge and a keen comparative eye, he does an enormous amount of discoursing around the premise that “the clothes we wear today are anachronistic, irrational and harmful.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 11, 2019
His image should be what politicians and elected officials envision before they begin discoursing about what can we do, what must we do, to ensure this does not happen again.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 19, 2018
"That's like a field trip to heaven," says Mara, who seconds earlier was discoursing on the debilitating effects of screen life.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2018
Harry thought he heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello....
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
