war of words
noun phrase
: an argument in which people or groups criticize and disagree with each other publicly and repeatedly for usually a long time
Rival groups have engaged in a war of words over the new law.
Examples of war of words in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Since then a war of words—and products—has ensued, with the Tesla CEO attempting to sue OpenAI earlier this year.
—
Beth Greenfield, Fortune, 1 July 2024
To that, Thursday’s war of words certainly wasn’t pretty, especially for Democrats.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 27 June 2024
Queens Councilman Jim Gennaro accused a top aide to Mayor Adams on Thursday of recently lying under oath, marking the latest escalation in an increasingly heated war of words between the two sides of City Hall.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
On the political scene, a war of words appears to have erupted between the United States and Israel this week, as Washington hit back after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the slow delivery of U.S. weapons.
—Adela Suliman and Hazem Balousha, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
In March, Kassan and UTA parted ways amid a war of words and legal and artibration claims that are still pending.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 17 June 2024
The war of words comes as Trump seeks to win a bigger share of Black votes in his looming White House rematch with President Biden.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 5 June 2024
Both rappers have made statements capable of inciting real-world violence; the lesson in the deaths of legends like 2Pac is never to let a war of words devolve into crashing out.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 May 2024
There followed a written war of words between a senior HTS official, Abd al-Rahim Atun, who sought to defend the group’s decision to go its own way, and two senior al Qaeda members in Syria, Sami al-Uraydi and the aforementioned Abu al-Qassam.
—Cole Bunzel, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2021
Beth Greenfield, Fortune, 1 July 2024
To that, Thursday’s war of words certainly wasn’t pretty, especially for Democrats.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 27 June 2024
Queens Councilman Jim Gennaro accused a top aide to Mayor Adams on Thursday of recently lying under oath, marking the latest escalation in an increasingly heated war of words between the two sides of City Hall.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
On the political scene, a war of words appears to have erupted between the United States and Israel this week, as Washington hit back after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the slow delivery of U.S. weapons.
—Adela Suliman and Hazem Balousha, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
In March, Kassan and UTA parted ways amid a war of words and legal and artibration claims that are still pending.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 17 June 2024
The war of words comes as Trump seeks to win a bigger share of Black votes in his looming White House rematch with President Biden.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 5 June 2024
Both rappers have made statements capable of inciting real-world violence; the lesson in the deaths of legends like 2Pac is never to let a war of words devolve into crashing out.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 May 2024
There followed a written war of words between a senior HTS official, Abd al-Rahim Atun, who sought to defend the group’s decision to go its own way, and two senior al Qaeda members in Syria, Sami al-Uraydi and the aforementioned Abu al-Qassam.
—Cole Bunzel, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'war of words.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near war of words
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“War of words.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20of%20words. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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