Meanings
comparative more contentious · superlative most contentious
- Marked by heated arguments or controversy.
His essay[…] is likely to draw a furious response from across the party, where [Tony] Blair’s legacy remains highly contentious.
2026 May 26, Jessica Elgot, “Tony Blair tells Starmer and rivals: abandon net zero and move closer to Trump”, in The Guardian, →ISSN1 more example
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.
2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport - Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.
She was not a contentious person as the Other had been; she did not argue and contradict everything I said.
2020, Susanna Clarke, Piranesi, Bloomsbury, page 212Synonyms: agonistic, argumentative, bangsome, bellicose, belligerent, debateful, discordant, disputatious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveGiven to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveinclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits
adjectiveinvolving or likely to cause controversy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Latincon-
- Proto-Indo-European*ten-
- Proto-Indo-European*tend-
- Proto-Indo-European*téndeti
- Proto-Italic*tendō
- Latintendō
- Latincontendō
- Latincontentiō
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
- Latincontentiōsus
- Middle Frenchcontentieux
- Englishcontentious
From Middle French contentieux, from Latin contentiōsus (“quarrelsome, perverse”), from contentiō (“contention”), from contendere, past participle contentus (“to contend”). Equivalent to English contention + -ous.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φιλόνεικος
- φιλόνεικος (philóneikos)given to struggling
Arabic مُثِير لِلْجَدَل
- مُثِير لِلْجَدَل (muṯīr liljadal)marked by controversy
Bulgarian спорен, свадлив
- спорен (sporen)marked by controversy
- свадлив (svadliv)given to struggling
Catalan controvertit, contenciós
- controvertitmarked by controversy
- contenciósmarked by controversy
- contenciósgiven to struggling
Chinese Mandarin 有爭議 /有争议
- 有爭議 /有争议 (yǒuzhēngyì)marked by controversy
Czech sporný
- spornýmarked by controversy
Danish omstridt, omtvistet
- omstridtmarked by controversy
- omtvistetmarked by controversy
Dutch omstreden, aangevochten
- omstredenmarked by controversy
- aangevochtenmarked by controversy
- controversieelmarked by controversy
- agressiefgiven to struggling
- strijdlustiggiven to struggling
Finnish kiistanalainen, riitaisa
- kiistanalainenmarked by controversy
- riitaisagiven to struggling
- riidanhaluinengiven to struggling
French controversé, belliqueux
- controversémarked by controversy
- belliqueuxgiven to struggling
- agressifgiven to struggling
- provocateurgiven to struggling
- combatifgiven to struggling
- batailleurgiven to struggling
- bagarreurgiven to struggling
- chamailleurgiven to struggling
- querelleurgiven to struggling
German umstritten, strittig
- umstrittenmarked by controversy
- strittigmarked by controversy
- kontroversmarked by controversy
- streitsüchtiggiven to struggling
- streitbargiven to struggling
- zänkischgiven to struggling
- provokativgiven to struggling
- streitlustiggiven to struggling
Hungarian vitás, vitatott
- vitásmarked by controversy
- vitatottmarked by controversy
- veszekedőgiven to struggling
- pörlekedőgiven to struggling
Irish conspóideach
- conspóideachmarked by controversy
Italian controverso, bellicoso
- controversomarked by controversy
- bellicosogiven to struggling
- aggressivogiven to struggling
- provocatoregiven to struggling
Latin contentiōsus
- contentiōsusgiven to struggling
Lithuanian ginčytinas
- ginčytinasmarked by controversy
Māori kūraruraru, ahitere
- kūrarurarumarked by controversy
- ahiteremarked by controversy
- whakawehewehemarked by controversy
Norwegian omstridt, kontroversiell
- omstridtmarked by controversy
- kontroversiellmarked by controversy
Polish sporny, kontrowersyjny
- spornymarked by controversy
- kontrowersyjnymarked by controversy
- kłótliwygiven to struggling
- swarliwygiven to struggling
Portuguese controverso, conflituoso
- controversomarked by controversy
- conflituosogiven to struggling
Russian дискуссионный, спо́рный
- дискуссионный (diskussionnyj)marked by controversy
- спо́рный (spórnyj)marked by controversy
- вздорный (vzdornyj)given to struggling
- придирчивый (pridirčivyj)given to struggling
- любящий спо́рить (ljubjaščij spóritʹ)given to struggling
Spanish controvertido, polémico
- controvertidomarked by controversy
- polémicomarked by controversy
- contenciosomarked by controversy
- conflictivogiven to struggling
- pendencierogiven to struggling
- camorristagiven to struggling
- belicosogiven to struggling
- provocadorgiven to struggling
Swedish omstridd, omtvistad
- omstriddmarked by controversy
- omtvistadmarked by controversy
- bråkiggiven to struggling
Turkish tartışmalı, mücâdeleci
- tartışmalımarked by controversy
- mücâdelecimarked by controversy
- çekişmelimarked by controversy
- kavgacımarked by controversy
Ukrainian спі́рний, дискусі́йний
- спі́рний (spírnyj)marked by controversy
- дискусі́йний (dyskusíjnyj)marked by controversy
- зади́рливий (zadýrlyvyj)given to struggling
- приче́пливий (pryčéplyvyj)given to struggling
Welsh dadleuol
- dadleuolmarked by controversy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with contentious
All rhymes →Cite this entry
contentious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contentious
“contentious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contentious. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contentious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contentious.
Source: contentious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.