contentious - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

con·ten·tious

Audio Help [kuh

n-ten-shuh

s] Pronunciation Key

–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
contentious

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

con·ten·tious Audio Help (kən-těn'shəs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Given to contention; quarrelsome. See Synonyms at argumentative, belligerent.
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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

contentious
adjective
1.	inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits; "a style described as abrasive and contentious"; "a disputatious lawyer"; "a litigious and acrimonious spirit"
2.	involving or likely to cause controversy; "a central and contentious element of the book"- Tim W.Ferfuson

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
conˈtentious [-ʃəs] adjective

quarrelsome

Arabic:	مُخاصِم، مُنازِع، مُجادِل
Chinese (Simplified):	好争论的
Chinese (Traditional):	好爭論的
Czech:	hádavý
Danish:	stridslysten
Dutch:	twistziek, aanvechtbaar
Estonian:	riiuhimuline
Finnish:	riidanhaluinen
French:	querelleur
German:	streitsüchtig
Greek:	εριστικός
Hungarian:	veszekedő
Icelandic:	þrætugjarn
Indonesian:	suka bertengkar
Italian:	controverso

Japanese:	議論好きな
Korean:	싸우기［논쟁을］ 좋아하는
Latvian:	strīdīgs; ķildīgs
Lithuanian:	mėgstantis ginčytis, vaidingas
Norwegian:	kranglevoren, stridbar, trettekjær
Polish:	kłótliwy
Portuguese (Brazil):	briguento
Portuguese (Portugal):	conflituoso
Romanian:	arţăgos
Russian:	спорный
Slovak:	hádavý
Slovenian:	prepirljiv
Spanish:	contencioso, polémico
Swedish:	stridslysten, grälsjuk
Turkish:	kavgacı

See also: contender, contention, contend

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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