Word.ws English Dictionary

argumentum ad hominem

argumentum ad hominem noun: a type of fallacious argument in which the attempt is made to refute a theory or belief by discrediting the person(s) who advocate that theory or belief; an ad hominem argument.

Noun

argumentum ad hominem (plural argumenta ad hominem or argumentums ad hominem)

  1. (rhetoric) A type of fallacious argument in which the attempt is made to refute a theory or belief by discrediting the person(s) who advocate that theory or belief; an ad hominem argument.
    • “He is an ass on two legs, the like of which was never seen before; so go home with your logic you old heathen vagabond, and teach your grandmother to milk the ducks!” The legend which we draw on, and which, never having been in print, we quote from memory, states that this argumentum ad hominem...1843 March 13, “St. Patrick's Day”, in The Illustrated London News, volume 2, number 46, page 185
    • [T]hey prefer argumentum ad hominem, which is a hell of a way to conduct a discussion.1976, Scott Beach, “Religion & Politics”, in Dr. Demento’s Dementia Royale
    Synonyms:
    ad hominem, ad hominem argument

Synonyms of argumentum ad hominem

Forms of argumentum ad hominem

pluralargumenta ad hominem
pluralargumentums ad hominem

Origin of argumentum ad hominem

Borrowed from Latin.

Questions about argumentum ad hominem

What does argumentum ad hominem mean?
Argumentum ad hominem means a type of fallacious argument in which the attempt is made to refute a theory or belief by discrediting the person(s) who advocate that theory or belief; an ad hominem argument.
What part of speech is argumentum ad hominem?
Argumentum ad hominem is a noun.
What is the plural of argumentum ad hominem?
The plural of argumentum ad hominem is argumenta ad hominem.

Words near argumentum ad hominem in the dictionary

  1. argumentum ad consequentiam
  2. argumentum ad crumenam
  3. argumentum ad dictionarium
  4. argumentum ad feminam
  5. argumentum ad fidem
  6. argumentum ad hominem
  7. argumentum ad ignorantiam
  8. argumentum ad invidiam
  9. argumentum ad judicium
  10. argumentum ad lapidem
  11. argumentum ad Lazarum

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: argumentum ad hominem (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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