oppugn
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to assail by criticism, argument, or action.
-
to call in question; dispute.
verb
Other Word Forms
- oppugner noun
- unoppugned adjective
Etymology
Origin of oppugn
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin oppugnāre to oppose, attack, equivalent to op- op- + pugnāre to fight, derivative of pugnus fist; pugilism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Also, g before n, as gnat, gnaw, gnarl, gnome, gnash, reign, deign, sign, consign, assign, design, condign, benign, impugn, oppugn, arraign, campaign.
From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mann, Mary E.
Either, therefore, he who oppugns incorporeal quality seems also to oppugn unqualified matter; or separating the one from the other, he mutually parts them both.
From Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch
If nothing can oppugn love, 385 And virtue invious ways can prove, What may he not confide to do That brings both love and virtue too?
From Hudibras by Butler, Samuel
Say, could not you twins, now, once come forward and speak as petition-masters-general in the halls of the Diet, or, as magistri sententiarum, oppugn one another within the walls of the universities on Commencement days?
From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich
A skeptic can only doubt, never oppugn the gospel.
From The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, May, 1880 by Walker, Aaron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.