redargue
Syllables: red·ar·gue/ɹɪˈdɑːɡjuː/US/ɹəˈdɑɹɡju/
redargue verb: to disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.
Verb
redargue (third-person singular simple present redargues, present participle redarguing, simple past and past participle redargued)
- To disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.
- Dia[ph Silkworm]. Sir, Ile redargue you, / By diſputation. / Com[passe]. O let's heare this! / I long to heare a man diſpute in his ſhirt / Of valour, and his ſvvord dravvne in his hand.1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio)...
- Synonyms:
- counterargue
- To rebut or refute (an argument, a proposition, etc.).
- Nathaniel Carpenter [i.e., Nathanael Carpenter] late Fellow of Exceter Colledge in Oxford, in the ſecond booke and ſeventh chapter of his learned Geographicall concluſions, thus fully redargues that forgerie.1635, George Hakewill, “Touching Grammar, Rhetorique, Logicke, the Mathematiques, Philosophy, Architecture, the Arts of Painting and Navigation”, in An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and...
- [T]he objections you mention, I humbly conceive, are ſuch as may be redargued, if not entirely removed— […]1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Mr. Henry Davis, Bookseller, in London”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume I, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, pages v–vi
- Often followed by for or of: to censure, to rebuke, to reprove (someone or something).
- Wherefore, says he, the libel maun be redargued by the pannel proving her defences.[1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.]...
- To argue (a case, proposition, etc.) against someone.
- To present a disproof or refutation of an argument, a person, etc.
Synonyms of redargue
Forms of redargue
| third-person singular present | redargues |
|---|---|
| present participle | redarguing |
| past participle | redargued |
| past | redargued |
Origin of redargue
From Late Middle English redarguen, redargue (“to defeat (someone) in an argument; to rebuke, reprove”), from Middle French redarguer and Old French redargüer (“to disprove, refute; to accuse, blame; to rebuke, reprove”) (modern French rédarguer), and from their etymon Latin redarguere (“to disprove, refute”) (compare Late Latin redarguere (“to rebuke, reprove”)), the present active infinitive of redarguō (“to disprove, refute; to contradict”), from red- (a variant of re- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + arguō (“to assert, declare; to clarify, make plain; to prove, show; to accuse, charge with; to censure, rebuke, reprove; to blame; to denounce as false”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- (“argent, white; glittering”), in the sense of casting light on something to make it clear). Doublet of argue. Cognates * Catalan redargüir * Italian redarguire * Old Occitan redarguir * Portuguese redargüir * Spanish redargüir
Words formed from redargue
Questions about redargue
- What does redargue mean?
- Redargue means to disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.
- What part of speech is redargue?
- Redargue is a verb.
- How do you pronounce redargue?
- Redargue is pronounced /ɹɪˈdɑːɡjuː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of redargue?
- The past tense of redargue is redargued.
Words near redargue in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: redargue (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-redargue.wav.
Cite this entry: “redargue.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/redargue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.