polemical
adjective
po·lem·i·cal
| \ pə-ˈle-mi-kəl
\
\
variants:
or less commonly polemic \ pə-ˈle-mik
\
\
Definition of polemical
1
: of, relating to, or being a polemic : controversial
2
: engaged in or addicted to polemics : disputatious
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Other Words from polemical
polemically
\ pə-ˈle-mi-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
Synonyms for polemical
Synonyms
argumentative, contentious, controversial, disputatious, quarrelsome, scrappy
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Examples of polemical in a Sentence
during the Middle Ages even theologians could be surprisingly polemical in their writings
an unnecessarily polemical look at the supposed incompatibility between science and religion
Recent Examples on the Web
An Officer and a Spy, the latest from the Oscar-winning, and polemical, director premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday, but Polanski wasn't there. — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, "Venice: Roman Polanski Skips Premiere of 'An Officer and a Spy'," 30 Aug. 2019 The stakes are too high to let polemical, politicized, or problematic arguments about the Iraq War similarly contaminate the public debate. — Hal Brands, National Review, "Lessons from the Iraq War," 20 June 2019 Lingering rancor and polemical arguments over the Vietnam War continued to undercut American statecraft for years after that conflict ended. — Hal Brands, National Review, "Lessons from the Iraq War," 20 June 2019 In other cases, theatergoers with an aversion to Ibsen — this pioneer of lyrical, dramatic naturalism strikes some as a bit dry and polemical — may make the decision not to attend on the basis of the title alone. — Peter Marks, Washington Post, "Nora’s back in ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2.’ Lucky for us, she’s played by Holly Twyford.," 14 June 2019 But even in these books, handpicked by Dworkin for polemical purposes, there seems more going on than her narrow reading allows. — Elaine Blair, The New York Review of Books, "Fighting for Her Life," 17 June 2019 The new document talks about gender and transgender people in a less polemical way than the church has done previously. — Eloise Blondiau, Vox, "5 trans Catholics on the Vatican’s rejection of their gender identity," 12 June 2019 Just so, some of the more polemical books on impeachment published recently read as though Mr. Trump should be impeached for doing and saying indefensible things—that is, for being a bad president. — Barton Swaim, WSJ, "Politics: High Stakes and ‘High Crimes’," 1 Nov. 2018 Pollan’s most polemical book, despairs of American eating habits, yet concludes with the dainty recommendation to eat local as often as possible. — Tom Bissell, New York Times, "Michael Pollan Drops Acid — and Comes Back From His Trip Convinced," 4 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'polemical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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