I. ə̇ˈristik, (ˈ)e|r-, -tēk adjective
also eris·ti·cal -tə̇kəl, -tēk-
Etymology: Greek eristikos fond of wrangling, from eristos (verbal of erizein to wrangle, vie with, from eris quarrel, strife) + -ikos -ic, -ical
: characterized by disputatious often subtle and specious reasoning (as in argument)
not … in any eristic temper, but in order to increase mutual understanding, desiring to get as well as to give — Walter Moberly
— compare apodictic , controversial , dialectical
• eris·ti·cal·ly -tə̇k(ə)lē, -tēk-, -li adverb
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a person devoted to logical disputation : controversialist ; specifically : a Megarian philosopher
2. : the art or practice of disputation and polemics (as in Aristotelian logic) especially as based on specious grounds
a kind of eristic , training the student to use the processes of thought and their expression … to attain an end, commonly argumentative — H.O.Taylor