impugn

English

WOTD – 27 April 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French impugner, from Latin impugnō, from im- + pugnō (“fight”), from pugnus (“fist”), as in English pugilism (“fighting with fists, boxing”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpjuːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːn
• Homophone: impune

Verb

impugn (third-person singular simple present impugns, present participle impugning, simple past and past participle impugned)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To assault, attack.
2. (transitive) To verbally assault, especially to argue against an opinion, motive, or action; to question the truth or validity of.

   Synonyms: call into question, challenge, contest, contradict, deny, disavow, dispute, oppugn, negate

   Antonyms: authenticate, endorse, support

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:impugn.
   • 2023 March 13, Mark Sappenfield, “Governing wisely”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     [The fact] that Americans’ trust in government is at historic lows […] makes it easier for politicians to impugn the system – courts, parties, and institutions.

Derived terms

• impugnable
• impugner

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pewǵ-‎ (0 c, 22 e)

Translations

To assault, attack

• Czech: napadnout (cs) pf
• Dutch: aanvallen (nl)
• French: attaquer (fr)
• German: angreifen (de)
• Spanish: arremeter (es), vilipendiar (es)
• Swedish: attackera (sv), angripa (sv)

A rejoinder using a false equivalence; to imply using a disingenuous argument while arguing against an opinion, motive, or action

• Bulgarian: опровергавам (bg) (oprovergavam)
• Dutch: bestrijden (nl), weerspreken (nl)
• Finnish: kyseenalaistaa (fi), kiistää (fi)
• French: contredire (fr)
• German: widersprechen (de), bestreiten (de), anfechten (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὄνομαι (ónomai)

• Swedish: bestrida (sv), ifrågasätta (sv)

question the validity of

• Bulgarian: оспорвам (bg) (osporvam)
• Czech: zpochybňovat impf, zpochybnit pf
• Dutch: betwisten (nl)
• Finnish: kyseenalaistaa (fi)
• French: contester (fr)
• German: angreifen (de), in Zweifel ziehen, bestreiten (de), infrage stellen (de), anfechten (de)
• Russian: оспаривать (ru) (osparivatʹ), подвергать сомнению
• Spanish: impugnar (es)
• Swedish: ifrågasätta (sv), jäva
• Ukrainian: оспорювати (osporjuvaty), ставити під сумнів (stavyty pid sumniv)

Anagrams

• Muping, umping