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argument

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A disagreement in which people express opposite views, often angrily.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ahrgyuhmuhnt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɑɹɡjəmənt

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. countablealso figuratively

    A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.

  2. countable

    A verbal dispute; a quarrel.

  3. countable

    A process of reasoning; argumentation.

  4. A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning

  5. A summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie

    “The editor added the argument to the poem.”

  6. countable

    An abstract or summary of the content of a literary work such as a book, a poem or a major section such as a chapter, included in the work before the content itself; (figuratively) the contents themselves.

verb

  1. (intransitive, obsolete, now nonstandard, non-native speakers' English) To put forward as an argument; to argue.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.

Used this way, argument 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
Matter-of-fact
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 argument

  • “It was a strong argument that his hypothesis was true.”noun
  • “They were involved in a violent argument.”noun
  • “The argument over foreign aid goes on and on.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

second argumentfirst argumentstrong argument

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • arguablyadverbDerived adverb

    As can be shown by argument.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • literary argumentnounCompound term

    A summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie.

  • logical argumentnounCompound term

    A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood.

  • specious argumentnounCompound term

    An argument that appears good at first view but is really fallacious.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • argueverbRelated term

    Present reasons and arguments.

  • argumentativeadjectiveRelated term

    Given to or characterized by argument.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: (intransitive or obsolete or now nonstandard

debateArchaictilt

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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.