ad hominem

Ellipsis of the Latin expression argumentum ad hominem (“argument at the person”). It can also mean attacking the messenger.

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Examples
John Rawls was biased, so no one should take his theory of justice seriously. They’re biased, so they’re wrong.[1]

ad hominem (plural ad hominems)

1. Short for 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.
2. (informal) A personal attack.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

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

ad hominem (not comparable)

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

   Well that's an ad hominem argument.

ad hominem (not comparable)

1. In an ad hominem manner.

   He tried to make his case by arguing ad hominem.

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

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad hominem.

ad hominem (invariable)

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

ad hominem (not comparable)

1. in an ad hominem manner

ad hominem (invariable)

1. ad hominem

ad hominem

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) ad hominem

• “ad hominem”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28