Word.ws English Dictionary

ignoratio elenchi

/ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.ʃiˌoʊ ɪˈlɛŋ.kaɪ/

ignoratio elenchi noun: the fallacy of presenting an argument that may or may not be logically valid, but fails to address the issue in question.

Noun

ignoratio elenchi (uncountable)

  1. The fallacy of presenting an argument that may or may not be logically valid, but fails to address the issue in question.
    Synonyms:
    heterozetesis, irrelevant conclusion, missing the point

Synonyms of ignoratio elenchi

Origin of ignoratio elenchi

From Latin ignōrātiō elenchī (“ignorance of the refutation”).

Questions about ignoratio elenchi

What does ignoratio elenchi mean?
Ignoratio elenchi means the fallacy of presenting an argument that may or may not be logically valid, but fails to address the issue in question.
What part of speech is ignoratio elenchi?
Ignoratio elenchi is a noun.
How do you pronounce ignoratio elenchi?
Ignoratio elenchi is pronounced /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.ʃiˌoʊ ɪˈlɛŋ.kaɪ/.

Words near ignoratio elenchi in the dictionary

  1. ignorantness
  2. ignorants
  3. ignoranus
  4. ignoranuses
  5. ignorati
  6. ignoratio elenchi
  7. ignoration
  8. ignorative
  9. ignoraunce
  10. ignoraunces
  11. ignoraunt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ignoratio elenchi (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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Cite this entry: “ignoratio elenchi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ignoratio_elenchi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.