Contentious — SAT Vocabulary That Likes to Fight?
It's like CONTROVERSIAL, but with a little more fight to it. 🥊
If it’s CONTENTIOUS, then people disagree or even fight over it. For example, if an election was really close, like 56 yeas and 57 nays, then people might argue over the validity of the outcome, and the victory could be called contentious.
People can also be contentious—you know those types who go off for no reason (well, there could be myriad reasons, from ‘roid rage to road rage)? They could be described as contentious as well.
Of course, contentious is related to the verb contend, which means to fight or strive for.
📚️ Definition of Contentious
Contentious (adjective): Causing or likely to cause controversy, disagreement, or argument; involving heated dispute. Can also describe a person who is argumentative or quarrelsome. Example: a contentious political debate.
🗣️ Pronunciation of Contentious
IPA: /kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/ (See IPA key)
Respelling: kuhn-TEN-shuhs
📰 Examples of Contentious
Here are some examples of the word contentious:
The contentious proposal to reduce the paid prep time for the district’s school teachers met with great backlash and ultimately led to a strike.
Whether Pluto should be classified as a planet remains contentious among a small group of astronomers, most of whom are probably Disney adults.
The question of who would succeed the queen to the throne was a contentious one.
See you mañana!