A counterargument is the thoughtful response you give when you disagree with someone's ideas or claims. In criminal court, a defense attorney usually gives a counterargument to the prosecutor's accusations.
- Pronunciation: /'kaʊntɚ,ɑrgjʊmənt/
- English Description: an argument offered in opposition to another argument
- Synonyms: argument
- Chinese Translation: 辩论(bian4 lun4)
- Spanish Translation: el debate
- ORIGIN: A counterargument is really just what it sounds like — an argument that runs counter to someone else's original argument. In this case,counter means "against" or "in response to," from the Latin rootcontra, "opposite, against, or in return." A true counterargument is well thought out, countering each idea with a set of reasons proving that the opposite is true.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
- But this week, there was a small counterargument against this fatalistic viewpoint.
- The counterargument, meanwhile, holds that the free trial could bring lots of free publicity to those same lesser-heard artists.
*New word description, story and part of "EXAMPLE SENTENCE" are cited in Vocabulary.com