Meanings
plural ad hominems
- abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of argumentum ad hominem: A fallacious objection to an argument or factual claim by appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim; an attempt to argue against an opponent's idea by discrediting the opponent themselves.
- informalproscribedA personal attack.
- not comparableOf or relating to this kind of fallacious objection.
Well that's an ad hominem argument.
- not comparableIn an ad hominem manner.
He tried to make his case by arguing ad hominem.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveappealing to personal considerations (rather than to fact or reason)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Ellipsis of the Latin expression argumentum ad hominem (“argument at the person”). It can also mean attacking the messenger.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شَخْصَنَة
- شَخْصَنَة (šaḵṣana)logical fallacy
Catalan ad hominem
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
Chinese Mandarin 对人不对事, 以人废言
- 对人不对事logical fallacy
- 以人废言 (yǐrénfèiyán)logical fallacy
- 人身攻擊 /人身攻击 (rénshēn gōngjī, rénshēn gōngjí)personal attack
Finnish ad hominem, ad hominem
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
- ad hominempersonal attack
- henkilökohtaisuuspersonal attack
French attaque personnelle
- attaque personnellepersonal attack
German persönlicher Angriff
- persönlicher Angriffpersonal attack
Indonesian ad hominem
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
Japanese 人身攻撃, 人身攻撃
- 人身攻撃 (jinshin kōgeki)logical fallacy
- 人身攻撃 (jinshin kōgeki)personal attack
Norwegian Bokmål ad hominem, ad hominem-argument
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
- ad hominem-argumentlogical fallacy
- personangreppersonal attack
Polish ad hominem, ad hominem
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
- ad hominempersonal attack
Portuguese ad hominem, ad hominem
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
- ad hominempersonal attack
Russian перехо́д на ли́чности, ли́чные напа́дки
- перехо́д на ли́чности (perexód na líčnosti)personal attack
- ли́чные напа́дки (líčnyje napádki)personal attack
Spanish ad hominem, ataque personal
- ad hominemlogical fallacy
- ataque personalpersonal attack
Swedish personangrepp
- personangrepppersonal attack
Tagalog katwirang umaantig sa sarilintao
- katwirang umaantig sa sarilintaological fallacy
Thai การโจมตีตัวบุคคล
- การโจมตีตัวบุคคล (gāan-jōom-tīi-tūa-bùk-kōn)personal attack
Cite this entry
ad hominem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20hominem
“ad hominem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20hominem. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ad hominem,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20hominem.
Source: ad hominem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.