polemic
noun
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When polemic was borrowed into English from French polemique in the mid-17th century, it referred (as it still can) to a type of hostile attack on someone's ideas. The word traces back to Greek polemikos, which means "warlike" or "hostile" and in turn comes from the Greek noun polemos, meaning "war." Other, considerably less common descendants of polemos in English include polemarch ("a chieftain or military commander in ancient Greece"), polemoscope (a kind of binoculars with an oblique mirror), and polemology ("the study of war").
Examples of polemic in a Sentence
Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Apr. 2024
Other people had a problem with my U.S. citizenship because of the political polemic between Nixon’s office’s involvement in the very violent Chilean military coup.
—Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for polemic 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'polemic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near polemic
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“Polemic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polemic. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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polemic
noun
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