contentious Definition
con·ten·tious (kən ten′s̸həs)
adjective
- always ready to argue; quarrelsome
- of or marked by contention
- provoking or likely to provoke controversy a contentious proposal
Etymology: ME contencios < L contentiosus: see contention
contentious Related Forms
con·ten′·tiously adverb
con·ten′·tious·ness noun
contentious Synonyms
contentious
modif.
contentious Usage Examples
Modifying Another Word
- politically: Extra time is, however, undoubtedly useful to improve the quality of " technical " drafting which is not politically contentious.
- potentially: However, large or potentially contentious applications are decided by panels of councilors.
- highly: Hunting with hounds is a highly contentious subject of great interest to people who live in rural areas.
- somewhat: Finally, some thought needs to be given to the somewhat contentious issue of assessment time.
- particularly: Age has been a particularly contentious issue for social workers.
- increasingly: What is being done to address this increasingly contentious internet issue?
Modifies a noun
- probate: Wills, Probate & Contested probate Advice on wills, probate, administration and contested wills and contentious probate.
- parade: The police could refer any notice of a contentious parade to a tribunal.
- issue: Animal testing has been a contentious issue for decades.
- matter: Projects related to hobbies or to contentious campus matters seem to be very popular.
- debate: Such a prospect is almost certain to fuel the already contentious debate over the use of genetically modified crops.
- topic: But why are these two contentious topics so often thrown together?
Used with adjective complement
- prove: It will prove most contentious to the Labor Party itself.
- remain: The only area that remains contentious in that context is the debate on the Welsh language.
- become: A division of share rights agreements becomes contentious where the target company's country has a domestic CGT regime.
- seem: The remaining detail of the document doesn't seem contentious.
- find: At this point he hasn't appealed to God or made claims that even most atheists would find contentious.
- appear: Points in the draft that we view as helpful may appear contentious to some of them.
Preposition: in
Browse dictionary entries near contentious
- ‹ contention
- ‹ contented
- ‹ content discrimination
- ‹ content blocking
- ‹ content-based restriction
- ‹ content
- ‹ contender
- ‹ contend
- ‹ contemptuous
- ‹ contemptible
- contentment ›
- contents ›
- conterminous ›
- contessa ›
- contest ›
- contestant ›
- contestation ›
- context ›
- contextual ›
- contextualize ›

