argue
verb
Simple meaning
Have an argument about something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahrgyooSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑɹɡju
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Have an argument about something
intransitive
To have an argument, a quarrel.
intransitive
To debate, disagree, or discuss opposing or differing viewpoints; to controvert; to wrangle.
transitive
To present (a viewpoint or an argument therefor).
Present reasons and arguments
To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Have an argument about something
Used this way, argue is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use argue
- “The evidence argues for your claim.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A contentious speech act.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true.
As can be shown by argument.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.