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divisive

[dih-vahy-siv]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

forming or expressing division or distribution.

creating dissension or discord.

Origin:
1590–1600; < Late Latin dīvīsīvus, equivalent to Latin dīvīs(us) (see divisible) + -īvus -ive

Related forms

di·vi·sive·ly, adverb

di·vi·sive·ness, noun

non·di·vi·sive, adjective

non·di·vi·sive·ly, adverb

non·di·vi·sive·ness, noun

EXPAND

sem·i·di·vi·sive, adjective

sem·i·di·vi·sive·ly, adverb

sem·i·di·vi·sive·ness, noun

un·di·vi·sive, adjective

un·di·vi·sive·ly, adverb

un·di·vi·sive·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To divisive

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Divisive is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Example Sentences

Twombly was a divisive artist almost from the start.

In the end, the book that had proved so divisive brought students together in a circle.

Opponents of home-schooling-and some of them are vehement-argue that it is socially divisive.

EXPAND

Twombly was a divisive artist almost from the start.

In the end, the book that had proved so divisive brought students together in a circle.

Opponents of home-schooling-and some of them are vehement-argue that it is socially divisive.

The war that divided a nation remains divisive today.

Few science policy issues today are as complex or divisive as climate change.

The issue is still too divisive for politicians to take on the flailing auto industry now, as they would scream bloody murder.

But today few issues are proving more divisive within the bloc than immigration.

Being divisive and being at each other's throats doesn't help us any.

America's poorest state is now the only one to keep that old, divisive emblem prominently on its flag.

It does not need to be as divisive as it seems to be.

And you can bet your last dollar that as the campaign season heats up, this fight will grow louder and more divisive.

Racial differences are considered basically immutable and divisive.

Romney was never, ever divisive or dismissive when he talked about his faith.

Ever more divisive media feed the activists' prejudices.

The move unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform nationally.

It is insulting to blacks and can ultimately only be divisive.

But each party proposes different solutions, and none is more divisive than nuclear power.

Something to do with crime, counter-terror or public sector reforms could prove more divisive.

Foreign wars, too, are less divisive this time than last.

More divisive will be the new government's second challenge: political reform.

But now they face a divisive challenge of protecting the environment while expanding the economy.

The overall goal is to project an image of party unity, a ritual coming together following an often divisive primary campaign.

In the heated debate over immigration, however, this topic is inevitably divisive.

American politics has become so divisive that no argument is too insignificant that it can't be polarized to an unbridgeable gap.

Global warming, on the other hand, has become a politically loaded and often divisive topic.

The present industrial set-up of our country has further invited such divisive forces to rule over our nation.

We need to focus on what people on all sides of the political spectrum agree on rather than the divisive issues.

But cars, even electric ones, are already proving more divisive than bikes.

The policy itself has proved predictably divisive since it was unveiled last summer.

Some opposed to drilling were reluctant to reopen the divisive debate when the nation is still in mourning.

Black's appearance would be too divisive to truly advance academic discussions of the issues involved.

Poland denounced plans for separate summits of euro-zone leaders for being divisive.

As with many other political borders, the realities of modern countries make these divisive lines irrelevant.

Activist players are often frowned upon in team sports as potentially divisive figures.

The corporate executives who hire such divisive personalities, however, are something else.

But defining aggressors-manifest or otherwise-promises to be hugely divisive.

Critics from both left and right argue that such an apology would be trivializing, empty, arrogant and racially divisive.

But far fewer want another divisive referendum on the issue in the near future.

Its signing marks another welcome step toward healing the wounds of a bitter and divisive war.

And even true believers worry about the divisive potential of the issue.

Hevesi, disagrees, and keeps saying that this is one city and that it is divisive to define it as something else.

If anything, it will stir trouble and prove to be divisive.

He is not known as a divisive figure but inspires little confidence outside his core supporters.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

divisive (dɪˈvaɪsɪv)

—*adj*
1.	causing or tending to cause disagreement or dissension
2.	archaic having the quality of distinguishing

di'visively

—*adv*

di'visiveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

divisive

c.1600, "having a quality of dividing," from L. divis-, pp. stem of dividere (see divide) + -ive. Meaning "producinbg discord" is from 1640s. Related: Divisiveness.

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