1
as in dispute
an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions
the seemingly imperishable controversy over the teaching of evolution
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in debate
variance of opinion on a matter
there is considerable controversy regarding the assassination of President Kennedy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of controversy
Here's how protestors used Waymo vehicles in the midst of a controversy over immigration enforcement that's left the country reeling.
—
Charles Singh, USA Today, 12 June 2025
No, Carpenter has not directly addressed the controversy over her album cover.
—Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
This was not without controversy, and encountered immediate resistance from scientists like Alice Hamilton, the first female faculty member at Harvard University, who warned of a national disaster from lead emissions.
—Andre Garron, Hartford Courant, 12 June 2025
Schlageter suggested future discussions on ways to increase city revenue that don’t rely on taxes to avoid similar controversies when the 2026-27 budget is drawn up next year.
—Steven Mihailovich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for controversy
Charles Singh, USA Today, 12 June 2025
No, Carpenter has not directly addressed the controversy over her album cover.
—Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
This was not without controversy, and encountered immediate resistance from scientists like Alice Hamilton, the first female faculty member at Harvard University, who warned of a national disaster from lead emissions.
—Andre Garron, Hartford Courant, 12 June 2025
Schlageter suggested future discussions on ways to increase city revenue that don’t rely on taxes to avoid similar controversies when the 2026-27 budget is drawn up next year.
—Steven Mihailovich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for controversy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for controversy
Noun
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Officials from the United States and China met in London to talk about a range of different disputes that are separating them.—
Stan Choe,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2025
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Phan was convicted of shooting up a high school graduation party after a dispute, killing an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old.—
Greg Wehner , Bill Melugin,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2025
Noun
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This is thematically tied to the internal debate at Arsenal over the No 9 position.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
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What To Know On Wednesday, nine Democratic candidates faced off in a two-hour debate.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 June 2025
Noun
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The jail altercation has since escalated into a wider conflict between the Sheriff’s Office and the Broward State Attorney’s Office.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
7 June 2025
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This wasn’t the first altercation to take place at one of Beyoncé’s recent shows.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
7 June 2025
Noun
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Jake is a single father who has brought Kristen up in the severe Calvinist tradition, marked by Bible disputations of Talmudic intricacy and by a radical detachment from secular and popular culture.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2023
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Seven decades later, this culture of disputation emerged as a central theme in Timothy Garton Ash’s The Magic Lantern, his eyewitness report on the Eastern European revolutions of 1989.—
Susie Linfield,
The New York Review of Books,
11 May 2022
Noun
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Ordinary disagreements are now seen as grounds to capriciously immiserate and ruin lives, and failing that, to intimidate state leaders into capitulation.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 June 2025
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Caught up in the they-said/he-said-in-previous-statements disagreements, director Eva Orner largely fails to explore the institutional side of the scandal.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2025
Noun
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Paramount Pictures Cohen et al. give a shoutout in their introduction to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, specifically the longstanding quarrel between the people of Lilliput and Blefuscu on the best orientation for cracking an egg.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
26 May 2025
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The whole saga, with Zelenskyy risking U.S. support through his quarrel with Trump before ultimately backing down, demonstrates how unprepared the Ukrainian leader was to engage with the new administration.—
Evan Nierman,
Baltimore Sun,
13 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But Circuit Judge John Jordan issued an 18-page decision that rejected the arguments.—
News Service Of Florida,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 June 2025
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June 26: The Supreme Court upholds parts of the ban and schedules oral arguments for October.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
Noun
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Fernandez’s defense attorney said a fight had broken out, and the dad ran across the street to check it out when his son ran after him and was hit.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
3 June 2025
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This is not the first time a fight has broken out at a Disney park.—
Moná Thomas,
People.com,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Controversy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/controversy. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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