Polemical Meaning
/pəˈlɛmɪkəl/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjRelated to argument or controversy; containing polemic, being polemic.
adjRelated to argument or controversy; containing polemic, being polemic., Being an attempt to evaluate the arguments comprehensively.
Sentence Examples
The author wrote a long and highly polemical essay on the topic.
We should avoid such polemical and divisive language.
He wrote a polemical essay criticizing the new policy.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the debate, his ____ speech attacked the opposing party's ideas aggressively.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ writing style attracted both passionate supporters and equally passionate critics.
Word Origin & History
From polemic + -al. By surface analysis, polem- + -ic + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] in order to give a comprehensive critical and polemical analysis of the Dictionary in question, a whole book would be needed."
— 1996, Igor Diakonoff, Leonid Kogan, “Addenda et Corrigenda to Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary by V. Orel and O. Stolbova”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, volume 146, page 25:
"Bachelard has given a clear analysis of the "Atlas complex", a polemical complex and schema of verticalising effort or elevation, accompanied by a feeling of monarchical contemplation which diminishes the world so as better to glorify the gigantic, and the ambition inherent in ascensional reveries."
— 1999, Gilbert Durand, The Anthropological Structures of the Imaginary, page 154:
"And though the annals of the period do not show us that there was less ale drawn, or less canary called for; men got dry with the heat of polemical discussion, and drunk with a text, not the fag end of a ballad, in their mouths; and people made a sort of morality of straight hair, long faces, and sad-coloured garments."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 190:
"Not only are all these allegations worded in an unnecessarily polemical style, they are also simply false"
— 2012, Craig L. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables, →ISBN, page 48:
"Remarkable here is the rather polemical choice of words […]"
— 2013, Johannes Zachhuber, Theology as Science in Nineteenth-Century Germany, →ISBN, page 57:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the debate, his ____ speech attacked the opposing party's ideas aggressively.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ writing style attracted both passionate supporters and equally passionate critics.