Synonyms for controversial
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Contentious
contentious, problematic, polemical, debatable, disputable, polemic, contested, arguable, argumentative, moot, disputatious
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Arousing or likely to arouse controversy.
Related words
Example sentences
- problematic For me, interpreting the question was problematic.
- contentious Religion is a contentious topic for many people.
- debatable It's debatable whether what Tom did was wrong or not.
- hot It is extremely hot and humid in Bali in December.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| controversial | rising | |
| problematic | rising | |
| contentious | rising | |
| debatable | steady | |
| polemical | rising | |
| hot | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- hot1
- 4 letters
- moot1
- 7 letters
- polemic3
- 8 letters
- arguable4
- 9 letters
- contested3, debatable4, polemical4
- 10 letters
- disputable4
- 11 letters
- problematic4, contentious3
- 12 letters
- disputatious
- 13 letters
- argumentative5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (polemic3 = 3 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- controversé
- Italiano
- controverso
- Deutsch
- kontrovers