Skip to content

The word for today is…

impugn (verb):

1: to assail by words or arguments : oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity

2 obsolete a: assail

b: resist

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : When you impugn, you hazard repugnant pugnacity. More simply put, you risk insulting someone so greatly that they may punch you in response. The belligerent implications of impugn are to be expected in a word that derives from the Latin verb pugnare, which means "to fight." In its earliest known English uses in the 1300s, impugn could refer to a physical attack (as in, "the troops impugned the city") as well as to figurative assaults involving verbal contradiction or dispute. Over time, though, the sense of physical battling has become obsolete and the "calling into question" sense has predominated. As you might expect, pugnare also gave English other fighting words, including repugnant and pugnacity.

If you enjoyed this Good Oil word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

Who Is Conning Whom?

Who Is Conning Whom?

The prime minister’s attention was caught by David Seymour: “Prime minister, I think I have a solution to the crime problem.”

Members Public