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impugn

/ɪmˈpjuːn/verb

impugn is spelled I-M-P-U-G-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, impugn means “To verbally assault, especially to argue against an opinion, motive, or action; to question the truth or validity of; cast doubt on” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in impugn?

Letters6: I-M-P-U-G-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 8 million words; the 83,271st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is impugn?

Impugn appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce impugn?

  • /ɪmˈpjuːn/

Impugn has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-impugn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of impugn

  • impugns present, singular, he/she/it
  • impugning participle, present
  • impugned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does impugn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo assault, attack.

  2. 2

    To verbally assault, especially to argue against an opinion, motive, or action; to question the truth or validity of; cast doubt on.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:impugn.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Impugn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchattaquer (To assault, attack), contredire (A rejoinder using a false equivalence; to imply…), contester (question the validity of)
Germanangreifen (To assault, attack), widersprechen, bestreiten, anfechten (A rejoinder using a false equivalence; to imply…), in Zweifel ziehen (question the validity of)
Spanisharremeter, vilipendiar (To assault, attack), impugnar (question the validity of)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does impugn come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after impugn