Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F.
contentieux.]
1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking
dispute or contention; quarrelsome.
[1913 Webster]
Despotic and contentious temper. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or
characterized by contention. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions.
--Brougham.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to
decide controversy.
[1913 Webster]
Contentious jurisdiction (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction
over matters in controversy between parties, in
contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, or that
exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.
Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling;
litigious; perverse; peevish. --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
contentious
adj 1: inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree,
even to engage in law suits; "a style described as
abrasive and contentious"; "a disputatious lawyer"; "a
litigious and acrimonious spirit" [syn: disputatious,
disputative, litigious]
2: involving or likely to cause controversy; "a central and
contentious element of the book"- Tim W.Ferfuson
3: having or showing a ready disposition to fight; "bellicose
young officers"; "a combative impulse"; "a contentious
nature" [syn: battleful, bellicose, combative]
WordNet (r) 2.0
67 Moby Thesaurus words for "contentious":
aggravating, aggravative, aggressive, annoying, antagonistic,
argumental, argumentative, battling, bellicose, belligerent,
bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, cat-and-dog, cat-and-doggish,
chauvinist, chauvinistic, combative, controversial, dialectic,
disputatious, enemy, eristic, exasperating, exasperative,
ferocious, fierce, fighting, full of fight, hawkish, hostile,
ill-humored, inimical, irritating, jingo, jingoish, jingoist,
jingoistic, litigious, logomachic, martial, militant, militaristic,
military, offensive, pilpulistic, polemic, pro and con,
provocative, pugnacious, quarrelsome, saber-rattling, sanguinary,
sanguineous, savage, scrappy, soldierlike, soldierly,
trigger-happy, truculent, unfriendly, unpacific, unpeaceable,
unpeaceful, warlike, warmongering, warring
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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