tu quoque

American

[too kwoh-kwe, too kwoh-kwee, -kway, tyoo] / tu ˈkwoʊ kwɛ, tu ˈkwoʊ kwi, -kweɪ, tju /

Latin.

thou too: a retort by one charged with a crime accusing an opponent who has brought the charges of a similar crime.

tu quoque British

/ tjuː ˈkwəʊkwɪ /

interjection

you likewise: a retort made by a person accused of a crime implying that the accuser is also guilty of the same crime

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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tu quoque

He also used ad hominem, tu quoque, conspiracy, lies, false accusations of corruption, attacking the interviewer, frame warfare—among others.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023

When someone commits a tu quoque ad hominem fallacy, they attempt to undermine a person’s argument by pointing to real or perceived hypocrisy on the part of the person.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

There are other types of ad hominem attacks, and the most successful is probably the one called tu quoque, which means “you too” in Latin.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

This often takes the style of tu quoque argument -- literally “you also.”

From Fox News ● Jun. 9, 2020

To this she made no retort, though a tu quoque would have been most just.

From Springtime and Other Essays by Sir Francis Darwin

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023