ad hominem

English

Etymology

Ellipsisof theLatinexpressionargumentumadhominem(“argument at the person”).It can also meanattacking the messenger.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

Examples
John Rawls was biased, so no one should take his theory of justice seriously. They’re biased, so they’re wrong.

ad hominem(pluralad hominems)

1. Short forargumentum ad hominem:Afallaciousobjectionto an argument orfactualclaimby appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing thesubstanceof the argument or producingevidenceagainst the claim; an attempt to argue against anopponent's idea bydiscreditingthe opponent themselves.
2. (informal)Apersonal attack.

   (Can we add anexamplefor this sense?)

Antonyms

• ad verecundiam(seeWikipedia:Argument from authority)
• appeal to authority
• ipse dixit

Hyponyms

• appeal to motive
• argumentum ad feminam
• argumentum ad invidiam
• damn by association(a.k.a.guilt by association)
• Kafkatrap
• playing the man and not the ball
• poisoning the well
• tone policing
• traitorous critic fallacy
• tu quoque

Translations

logical fallacy

• Catalan:ad hominem
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Đối nhân bất đối sự,Dĩ nhân phế ngôn(zh)(yǐrénfèiyán)

• Finnish:ad hominem
• Japanese:Đối nhân luận chứng(taijin ronshō)
• Portuguese:ad hominem(pt)m
• Spanish:ad hominem
• Tagalog:katwirang umaantig sa sarilintao

personal attack

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Nhân thân công kích／Nhân thân công kích(zh)(rénshēn gōngjī, rénshēn gōngjí)

• Finnish:ad hominem,henkilökohtaisuus(fi)
• French:attaque personnellef
• German:persönlicher Angriffm
• Japanese:Nhân thân công kích(ja)(jinshin kōgeki)
• Portuguese:ad hominem(pt)m
• Russian:перехо́д на ли́чностиm(perexód na líčnosti),ли́чные напа́дкиfpl(líčnyje napádki)
• Spanish:ataque personalm
• Swedish:personangrepp(sv)n

Adjective

adhominem(notcomparable)

1. Of or relating to this kind of fallacious objection.

   Well that's anad hominemargument.

Collocations

Collocations

• ad hominem attack
• ad hominem argument
• ad hominem argumentation
• ad hominem fallacy
• ad hominem criticism
• ad hominem nature
• ad hominem remarks
• ad hominem comments
• ad hominem critique
• ad hominem criticism
• ad hominem style
• ad hominem approach
• ad hominem abuse
• ad hominem basis
• ad hominem point

Adverb

adhominem(notcomparable)

1. In an ad hominem manner.

   He tried to make his case by arguingad hominem.

Further reading

• “ad hominem”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.
• “ad hominem”,inMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:Merriam-Webster,1996–present.
• “ad hominem”,inThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,5th edition, Boston, Mass.:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,2016,→ISBN.
• “ad hominem”,inCollins English Dictionary.
• “ad hominem”(US) / “ad hominem”(UK) inMacmillan English Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowingfromLatinad hominem.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil)IPA^(key):/ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈõ.mi.nẽj̃/[ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈõ.mi.nẽɪ̯̃]

• (Brazil)IPA^(key):/ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈõ.mi.nẽj̃/[ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈõ.mi.nẽɪ̯̃]
  • (Southern Brazil)IPA^(key):/ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈo.mi.nẽj̃/[ˈa.d͡ʒi ˈo.mi.nẽɪ̯̃]

Adjective

adhominem(invariable)

1. (of an argument)ad hominem(being a personal attack)

Adverb

adhominem(notcomparable)

1. in an ad hominem manner

Spanish

Adjective

ad hominem(invariable)

1. ad hominem

Adverb

ad hominem

1. (Can weverify⁽⁺⁾this sense?)ad hominem

Further reading

• “ad hominem”,inDiccionario de la lengua española,Vigésima tercera edición,Real Academia Española,2014