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contentious - 3 dictionary results

con⋅ten⋅tious

  [kuhn-ten-shuhs]
Use contentious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome: a contentious crew.
2. causing, involving, or characterized by argument or controversy: contentious issues.
3. Law. pertaining to causes between contending parties.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME contenciose < L contentiōsus, equiv. to contenti(ō) contention + -ōsus -ous

Related forms:
con⋅ten⋅tious⋅ly, adverb
con⋅ten⋅tious⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. disputatious, argumentative.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To contentious
con·ten·tious   (kən-těn'shəs)   
adj.  
  1. Given to contention; quarrelsome. See Synonyms at argumentative, belligerent.
  2. Involving or likely to cause contention; controversial: "a central and contentious element of the book" (Tim W. Ferguson).
con·ten'tious·ly adv., con·ten'tious·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Contentious

Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F. contentieux.]

1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking dispute or contention; quarrelsome.

Despotic and contentious temper. --Macaulay.

2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or characterized by contention. --Spenser.

More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions. --Brougham.

3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to decide controversy.

Contentious jurisdiction (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction over matters in controversy between parties, in contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, or that exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.

Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling; litigious; perverse; peevish. -- Con*ten"tious*ly, adv. -- Con*ten"tious*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : contentious
Spanish: contencioso, polémico,
German: streitsüchtig,
Japanese: 議論好きな
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