polemic
noun
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Diatribe, jeremiad, philippic … the English language sure has a lot of formal words for the things we say or write when we are—to use a decidedly less formal term—big mad. We will refrain from going on a tirade about it, however, especially since it’s good to have options with subtle differences in tone and meaning. Polemic, which traces back ultimately to the Greek word for war, polemos, is the word you want to refer specifically to an aggressive attack on someone’s ideas or principles. Someone who is cheesed off because they don’t like cheese, for example, wouldn’t write a polemic about it. A turophile upset about the gustatory philosophy behind their local cheesemonger’s recent offerings just might.
Examples of polemic in a Sentence
Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Aug. 2024
Biologist Paul Ehrlich appeared on The Tonight Show to tout The Population Bomb, his 1968 polemic about human numbers run amok.
—Ben Goldfarb, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024
Hailing from the Company Flow school of post-apocalyptic rap deconstruction, the New Yorkers smash together surrealism and polemic in songs whose harmonious soul samples belie an inescapable sense of dread.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 13 Sep. 2024
Less structured discussions of controversial ideas often devolve into vociferous polemics that can often be described as arguments.
—Blake D. Morant, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for polemic 
Dictionary Entries Near polemic
Cite this Entry
“Polemic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polemic. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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polemic
noun
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