Meanings
- not comparableCausing some controversy, but not enough to be considered controversial.
Never mind the semicontroversial "Stop Snitching" T-shirts, where the threatening command not to talk to the police is inscribed within a red octagon.
2005 October 13, Kelefa Sanneh, “Cracking the Code in Hip-Hop”, in The New York Times1 more example
He thinks like a politician, and he thinks like a lawyer. So the governor in particular is very careful about parsing his words, especially if we’re talking about a political issue that’s being negotiated in the Legislature, talking about things connected to Bridgegate, things that are semicontroversial.
2015 January 26, Michael Barbaro, “A Radio Host’s Strategy for Christie: Let Him Rant”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: quasicontroversial
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveCausing some controversy, but not enough to be considered controversial.
Origin
Cite this entry
semicontroversial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semicontroversial
“semicontroversial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semicontroversial. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semicontroversial,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semicontroversial.
Source: semicontroversial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.