controversial - Longman Dictionary

controversial meaning, definition, what is controversial: causing a lot of disagreement, because m...: Learn more. controversial Wordfamily (noun) controversy (adjective) controversial (adverb) controversiallyFromLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglishcontroversialcon‧tro‧ver‧sial/ˌkɒntrəˈvɜːʃəl◂$ˌkɑːntrəˈvɜːr-/●●○AWLadjective    DISAGREEcausingalotofdisagreement,becausemanypeoplehavestrongopinionsaboutthesubjectbeingdiscussed  thecontroversialissueofwelfarereform  ahighlycontroversial(=verycontroversial)plantofloodthevalleyinordertobuildadam  Heisacontroversialfigure(=personwhodoescontroversialthings)intheartworld.—controversiallyadverbCOLLOCATIONSnounsacontroversialissue/topic/subjectItriedtoavoidcontroversialtopicssuchaspoliticsandreligion.acontroversialdecisionThecourt’sdecisionwashighlycontroversial.acontroversialplan/proposal/policythecontroversialplantobuildanewairportacontroversialfigure(=apersonwhodoescontroversialthings)Heisacontroversialfigureinpolitics.acontroversialmeasure(=anofficialactionthatiscontroversial)Banningsmokinginpublicplaceswasacontroversialmeasure.controversiallegislation(=controversiallaws)Thecontroversiallegislationhasnotyetbeenofficiallyapproved.thecontroversialnatureofsomethingThereportwaskeptsecretbecauseofitscontroversialnature.adverbshighlycontroversialThispolicyishighlycontroversial.politicallycontroversialTheareaofworkers’rightsremainspoliticallycontroversial. THESAURUScontroversialcausingalotofdisagreementandangryargument,especiallyinthenewspapers,ontelevisionetcAbortionisacontroversialsubject.Thefilmwashighlycontroversialatthetime.contentiousformallikelytocausealotofdisagreementandargumentthecontentiousissueofimmigrationTheseclaimsarehighlycontentious.debatable/arguableusedwhenyouthinkthatsomethingisnotcertainandthatpeoplehavedifferentopinionsaboutit,especiallyinthephraseitisdebatable/arguablewhetherItisdebatablewhetherthisbookisasgoodasherpreviousnovel.Itisarguablewhetherthesemeasureswillreducetheoverallcost.Doesthetreatmentwork?Ithinkthat’sdebatable.somethingisamootpointusedwhenyouthinkthatsomethingisnotcertainandthatpeoplehavedifferentopinionsaboutit–aratherformalphraseWhetherthisproposalwillreallyreducecrimeisamootpoint.ExamplesfromtheCorpuscontroversial•Whatfollowedwasthemostcontroversialat-batofthegame.•Prozacisacontroversialdrugusedtotreatdepression.•Then,thankstoLabour'scontroversialelectionbroadcastonhealth,thatissue,too,waseffectivelyneutralised.•Rossellini'scontroversialfilm,"TheMiracle"•Arecentgovernmentpaperoneducationcontainssomecontroversialnewideas.controversialfigure•PlayedbyPhilipCasnoff,Sinatraemergesasapowerfulyetcontroversialfigure.•Theoriginalwassaidtohaveincludedevenmorecontroversialfigures.•Nixon'sadvisersimpresseduponhimthatsuchacontroversialfigurecouldnotbeconfirmedbyanoverwhelminglyDemocraticcongress.•Rennekerisasomewhatcontroversialfigure;everyoneseemstohaveanopinion.•ButwhatdoesPepperdineseeinStarr,acontroversialfigurefromthehighestwarsofpolitics?•Maxwellsoonbecameacontroversialfigureintheworldofbigbusiness. Exercises Exercises Vocabularyexerciseshelpyoutolearnsynonyms,collocationsandidioms. IntermediateandAdvancedlevelgrammarpracticewithprogresstests. Listeningandpronunciation,exampreparationandmore! Moreresults non-controversial Seeallresults Picturesoftheday Whatarethese? Clickonthepicturestocheck. Exploretopics Companies Geography Tastes Plants Seealltopics Wordoftheday egotistical someonewhoisegotisticallikestotalkabouthowgreatandimportanttheythinktheyare