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Argy-bargy and its slightly older variant argle-bargle have been a part of British English since the second half of the 19th century. Argy and argle evolved in certain English and Scottish dialects as variant forms of argue. As far as we can tell, bargy and bargle never existed as independent words; they only came to life with the compounds as singsong reduplications of argy and argle. Some other colorful words that can be used for a dispute in English are squabble, contretemps, and donnybrook.
Synonyms of argy-bargy
Examples of argy-bargy in a Sentence
wouldn't be a cricket match without a little argy-bargy over the umpire's every call
the perennial argy-bargy over whether the monarchy should be abolished
Recent Examples on the Web
Perhaps this explains why there was none of the needle associated with those recent encounters, including the Carabao Cup first-round clash in August 2024 that again ended in a bout of argy-bargy sparked by a 92nd-minute clash between Sydie Peck and Jack Marriott.
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Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
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Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Argy-bargy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/argy-bargy. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
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