contentious
English
WOTD – 6 March 2010, 6 March 2011
Etymology
Etymology tree
From Middle French contentieux, from Latin contentiōsus (“quarrelsome, perverse”), from contentiō (“contention”), from contendere, past participle contentus (“to contend”). Equivalent to English contention + -ous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/
Audio (Australia): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛnʃəs
Adjective
contentious (comparative more contentious, superlative most contentious)
- Marked by heated arguments or controversy.
- 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport[1], archived from the original on 12 December 2015:
- Ukraine, however, will complain long and hard about a contentious second-half incident when Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved.
- 2026 May 26, Jessica Elgot, “Tony Blair tells Starmer and rivals: abandon net zero and move closer to Trump”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 October 2026:
- His essay […] is likely to draw a furious response from across the party, where [Tony] Blair’s legacy remains highly contentious.
- Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:quarrelsome, Thesaurus:combative
- 2020, Susanna Clarke, Piranesi, Bloomsbury, page 212:
- She was not a contentious person as the Other had been; she did not argue and contradict everything I said.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
marked by controversy
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given to struggling
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References
- “contentious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “contentious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Categories:
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *ḱe
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃ed- (smell)
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *tend- (stretch)
- English terms derived from Old Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ten-
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *ḱóm
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛnʃəs
- Rhymes:English/ɛnʃəs/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations