Contentious Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

The meaning of CONTENTIOUS is likely to cause disagreement or argument. How to use contentious in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Contentious. Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut contentious adjective SaveWord con·​ten·​tious |\kən-ˈten(t)-shəs \ Definitionofcontentious 1 :likelytocausedisagreementorargument acontentiousissue 2 :exhibitinganoftenperverseandwearisometendencytoquarrelsanddisputes amanofamostcontentiousnature OtherWordsfromcontentious Synonyms&Antonyms ChoosetheRightSynonym MoreExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutcontentious OtherWordsfromcontentious contentiously adverb contentiousness noun Synonyms&Antonymsforcontentious Synonyms aggressive,agonistic,argumentative,assaultive,bellicose,belligerent,brawly,chippy,combative,confrontational,discordant,disputatious,feisty,gladiatorial,militant,pugnacious,quarrelsome,scrappy,truculent,warlike Antonyms nonaggressive,nonbelligerent,pacific,peaceable,peaceful,unbelligerent,uncombative,uncontentious VisittheThesaurusforMore  ChoosetheRightSynonymforcontentious belligerent,bellicose,pugnacious,quarrelsome,contentiousmeanhavinganaggressiveorfightingattitude.belligerentoftenimpliesbeingactuallyatwarorengagedinhostilities. belligerentnations bellicosesuggestsadispositiontofight. adrunkinabellicosemood pugnacioussuggestsadispositionthattakespleasureinpersonalcombat. apugnaciousgangster quarrelsomestressesanill-naturedreadinesstofightwithoutgoodcause. theheatmadeusallquarrelsome contentiousimpliesperverseandirritatingfondnessforarguingandquarreling. weariedbyhiscontentiousdisposition ExamplesofcontentiousinaSentence Intheperpetualskirmishbetweenscienceandreligion,biologicalevolutionisacontentiousbattleground. —BarryA.Palevitz,SkepticalInquirer,July/August1999 CreatorJimDavishadspenttwoyearsfine-tuningthecontentiousrelationshipbetweenthegrouchycat,hismilquetoastowner,Jon(Davis'pen-and-inkalterego),andbefuddleddogOdie—inastriphe'dthoughtwouldbecalledJon. —BethJohnson,EntertainmentWeekly,19June1998 Historians,admittedlyacontentiouslot,havefailedeventoagreeonwhattocallKingPhilip'sWar. —JillLepore,TheNameofWar,1998 Mymentalattitudewhendrinkingisbothcontentiousandmalicious,andwhileinthismoodandstateIwastheauthorofstatementswhichIknowtobewhollyunfounded. —TheodoreDreiser,TheTitan,1914 Afteracontentiousdebate,membersofthecommitteefinallyvotedtoapprovethefunding. Thedisputeinvolvesoneoftheregion'smostcontentiousleaders. SeeMore RecentExamplesontheWeb Amongthosecases,theMicrosoftandActivisionBlizzardmergerhasbeenespeciallycontentious. — JonathanLee,WashingtonPost,23Aug.2022 Pastnegotiationshavebeenhighlycontentious,withdisagreementsbetweendockworkersandtheiremployersduringtalksin2002and2014triggeringshippingdelaysthatlastedformonths. — PaulBerger,WSJ,19Aug.2022 Themilitary-serviceissueiscontentiousinSouthKorea. — GilKaufman,Billboard,18Aug.2022 Thetalkshavebeenattimescontentious,duetothestatesallhavingdifferentinterests,andanagreementhasyettobereached. — CatherineGarcia,TheWeek,16Aug.2022 Sometimes,zoningissuescanbecontentious,assomeinacommunityormunicipalitymighthavedoubtsaboutwhatadeveloperplanstodo. — SamMizrahi,Forbes,10Aug.2022 Insomespaces,beingoutandbeingourselvesiscontentious. — LosAngelesTimes,22July2022 ResearchonhumanembryoshasalwaysbeencontentiousintheUnitedStates. — Wired,21July2022 Therelationshipcanbesymbioticand,attimes,contentious. — NewYorkTimes,30June2022 SeeMore Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'contentious.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. FirstKnownUseofcontentious 15thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedatsense1 HistoryandEtymologyforcontentious MiddleEnglishcontenciose"quarrelsome,"borrowedfromMiddleFrench&Latin;MiddleFrenchcontencieux"subjecttodisagreement,"borrowedfromLatincontentiōsus"persistent,obstinate,argumentative,quarrelsome,"fromcontentiō"exertion,competition,contention"+-ōsus-ous LearnMoreAboutcontentious Sharecontentious PosttheDefinitionofcontentioustoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofcontentiousonTwitter TimeTravelerforcontentious Thefirstknownuseofcontentiouswas inthe15thcentury Seemorewordsfromthesamecentury ListentoOurPodcastAboutcontentious ThememusicbyJoshuaStamper©2006NewJerusalemMusic/ASCAP GetWordoftheDaydeliveredtoyourinbox! SignUp FromtheEditorsatMerriam-Webster Trending:Pelosi:MeetingwasLengthy... Trending:Pelosi:MeetingwasLengthyandSometimes'Contentious' DictionaryEntriesNearcontentious contentional contentious contentiousjurisdiction SeeMoreNearbyEntries  Statisticsforcontentious LastUpdated 28Aug2022 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Contentious.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contentious.Accessed30Aug.2022. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MorefromMerriam-Websteroncontentious Nglish:TranslationofcontentiousforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationofcontentiousforArabicSpeakers WORDOFTHEDAY effulgence SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary TheGreatBritishVocabularyQuiz NamedafterSirRobertPeel,whatareBritishpolicecalled? Berties Robbies Bobbies Peelheads Testyourvocabularywithour10-questionquiz! TAKETHEQUIZ Adailychallengeforcrosswordfanatics. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! 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