dissension

noun dis·sen·sion \ di-ˈsen(t)-shən \

variants: or less commonly dissention

Definition of dissension

:disagreement; especially :partisan and contentious quarreling

causing dissension within the police department

a colony threatened by religious dissension

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Examples of dissension in a Sentence

The incident has caused a lot of dissension within the police department.
Religious dissension threatened to split the colony.

Recent Examples of dissension from the Web

The report notes that some firefighters are fully satisfied with the department's operations and management; some told investigators that a small group is responsible for complaints and dissension.

— don stacom, Courant Community, "Private Probe Finds 'Serious Racial Insensitivity' Of New Britain Fire Chief," 16 Aug. 2017
Some people have said there’s too much public confusion and dissension about what improvements are really needed at the airport, and November may be too soon to try to get voter approval.

— steve vockrodt and lynn horsley, kansascity, "Here’s a closer look at the proposals for a new KCI terminal," 14 Aug. 2017
The conventional wisdom is that dissension is a party killer; safer to stay united around even a low-polling president than to act against him.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Evidence of climate change abounds amid extreme weather in the Pacific Northwest," 14 Aug. 2017
The conventional wisdom is that dissension is a party killer; safer to stay united around even a low-polling president than to act against him.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Evidence of climate change abounds amid extreme weather in the Pacific Northwest," 14 Aug. 2017
The conventional wisdom is that dissension is a party killer; safer to stay united around even a low-polling president than to act against him.

— david frum, The Atlantic, "Time for Republicans to Leap From the Boat," 13 Aug. 2017
That example also could be timely for the Seahawks, who just spent an entire offseason fighting off the perception of dissension surrounding Sherman and his various disputes.

— larry stone, The Seattle Times, "Kam Chancellor’s extension shows Seahawks will give big money to those who have earned it," 1 Aug. 2017
All of this puts the core GOP promise to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature law at its most precarious point since March, when House Republican leaders briefly abandoned the effort amid dissension in their ranks.

— russell berman, The Atlantic, "How to Know If the Republican Health-Care Bill Is Dead," 11 July 2017
WikiLeaks dumped a much larger cache of internal DNC emails on July 22, as the Democratic National Convention opened, causing internal party dissension that led the party chairman to resign.

— john wagner, Washington Post, "Donald Trump Jr. was told campaign meeting would be with ‘Russian government attorney,’ according to emails," 11 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dissension.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dissension

Middle English, from Anglo-French discension, from Latin dissension-, dissensio, from dissentire — see ¹dissent

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First Known Use: 14th century

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dissension Synonyms

Synonyms

conflict, disaccord, discordance, discordancy, disharmony, discord (also dissention), dissent, dissidence, dissonance, disunion, disunity, division, friction, infighting, inharmony, schism, strife, variance, war, warfare

Antonyms

accord, agreement, concord, concordance, harmony, peace

Near Antonyms

concurrence, cooperation

Synonym Discussion of dissension

discord, strife, conflict, contention, dissension, variance mean a state or condition marked by a lack of agreement or harmony. discord implies an intrinsic or essential lack of harmony producing quarreling, factiousness, or antagonism.