There are excellent reasons for working hard to improve your English vocabulary: you’ll be able to easily and quickly read and understand a broader variety of books, documents, and papers; you’ll have more confidence speaking in front of groups, with clients and customers, or one-on-one with your supervisors at work; and your increased skills in writing and communication will help you further your career goals. With all of these benefits, we’d be surprised if anyone tried to impugn your motives in choosing to focus on vocabulary study.

To impugn means to call into question someone’s opinions or actions by accusing them of being wrong (in the case of an opinion) or of doing something for the wrong reasons (in the case of an action). The Latin word pugnare, meaning “to fight,” is at the root of this word, and its synonyms are equally combative in nature: to challenge and to dispute have the same meaning as to impugn.

Example: Alex thought that the congregation he joined was accepting of all viewpoints, but when he began to impugn the wisdom of the church leaders and their views on the role of women, he was quickly asked to leave and find another place to worship.

Other words that share the Latin root pugnare are pugnacious and repugnant. Someone who is pugnacious is quick to fight. The word repugnant literally translates as “to fight back” – in this case, if something is repugnant it’s not because it’s fighting back, it’s because the reaction it inspires in you is to reject it, to back away, or to fight it off.

Keep fighting hard for your right to an excellent English vocabulary! Remember, we’re on your side.