contentious
/kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.31 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Marked by heated arguments or controversy.
adj
Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.
Example Sentences
- "Ukraine, however, will complain long and hard about a contentious second-half incident when Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved."
- "His essay[…] is likely to draw a furious response from across the party, where [Tony] Blair’s legacy remains highly contentious."
- "She was not a contentious person as the Other had been; she did not argue and contradict everything I said."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *téndeti Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin contendō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin contentiō Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Latin contentiōsus Middle French contentieux English contentious From Middle French contentieux, from Latin contentiōsus (“quarrelsome, perverse”), from contentiō (“contention”), from contendere, past participle contentus (“to contend”). Equivalent to English contention + -ous.
Inflected Forms
more contentious (comparative)
most contentious (superlative)