Synonyms for contentious
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Controversial — given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord
controversial, combative, litigious, quarrelsome, argumentative, pugnacious, belligerent, bellicose, hostile, truculent, antagonistic, polemical, aggressive, factious, disputatious formal, warlike, martial, militaristic, disputative formal, unpacific, logomachic
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.
Related words
- Word family
- contentiousness contend contender contention
Example sentences
- controversial Racial profiling is a controversial police tactic.
- combative The combative patient was given a tranquilizer.
- quarrelsome Mary is quarrelsome, isn't she?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| contentious | rising | |
| controversial | rising | |
| combative | rising | |
| litigious | rising | |
| quarrelsome | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 7 letters
- hostile2, martial2, warlike2
- 8 letters
- perverse2, factious
- 9 letters
- combative3, polemical4, litigious3, bellicose3, truculent3, unpacific
- 10 letters
- aggressive3, pugnacious3, logomachic
- 11 letters
- belligerent4, quarrelsome3, disputative
- 12 letters
- antagonistic5, militaristic5, disputatious
- 13 letters
- controversial4, argumentative5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (hostile2 = 2 syllables).