contended

verb

past tense of contend
1
as in competed
to engage in a contest two traditional rivals contending for the championship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in argued
to state (something) as a reason in support of or against something under consideration contended that the senator's considerable experience made him the best candidate

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in insisted
to state as a fact usually forcefully contended that his opponent was wrong about practically everything

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contended Prosecutors have contended that Sanon was more than an unwitting political hopeful. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026 Belgal's attorneys contended ICE agents arrested Belgal without a warrant. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026 Sweeping as its powers were, Kanji contended, DHS could not override a sovereign government. — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2026 Some Democrats contended that the Justice Department greenlit the deal for political reasons, while warning that the Ellisons would steer CNN news coverage in a direction friendlier for the president. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026 Blacknell contended that four different medical professionals treated Linton after the crash and none of them concluded the wreck was tied to a bipolar episode. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 The business contended that the statute was vague and said that handwashing would qualify as a medical action under the act, according to the judge’s order. — Idaho Statesman, 23 Sep. 2026 At their joint trial, prosecutors contended that Merritt encouraged Fattore to kill Caleb and Bridget. — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026 Penn State regularly contended for New Year’s Six bowls but lost the close, important games so often that fans braced for heartbreak. — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contended
  1. competed
  2. argued
  3. insisted
  4. fought
  5. reasoned
  6. claimed
  7. raced
  8. asserted
Verb
  • Savchenko competed as a pro on 13 seasons of DWTS, and has yet to snatch the Mirrorball Trophy.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Brittany, who shares three kids with her husband Patrick, is a former college soccer player who competed professionally in Iceland for a year.
    — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of competed
Verb
  • When people have little relief from stress in a chaotic environment, their brains have difficulty coping with the ongoing prediction errors, Friston, McEwen and neuroscientist Achim Peters argued in a 2017 article.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Consumer advocates have argued that digital labels could eventually be used for surge pricing or personalized pricing.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of argued
Verb
  • Until now, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has insisted the men were still alive and being held by gangs.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Putin has long insisted that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Russia has tried — and failed — to fully capture over more than four years of war have always been Russian.
    — Catherine Belton, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of insisted
Verb
  • When the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990, a wall text informs, militias sold off weapons, many of which found their way to the Balkans; the Yugoslav Wars, then, were fought partly with Lebanese arms.
    — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • All but one state fought the lawsuits, including seven that had Republican chief election officers.
    — Barton Gellman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of fought
Verb
  • The leader of the world’s largest chip company reasoned that his success wouldn’t have been possible without the opportunities America afforded him.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
  • This line of defense didn’t persuade Sweeney, who reasoned that adding athletes with expired eligibility would mean more, not less, market competition.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of reasoned
Verb
  • The man on the line claimed a Mexican drug cartel had kidnapped her 37-year-old daughter.
    — Muskaan Arshad, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • While protests in France have claimed most international attention, large demonstrations are also rocking many European cities Saturday from Milan to Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of claimed
Verb
  • Crowell snagged Brady Allen's pass and raced 46 yards down the right side for a 17-7 halftime lead.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Griffin Wilde, who finished with 133 receiving yards, Alex Honig and Drew Wagner caught passes for scores as Northwestern (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) raced to a 28-3 lead late in the first half.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of raced
Verb
  • Joseph Hill, the director of the Center for Black Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, asserted that BASL is generally treated as more of a dialect than a language.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asserted in a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber that California may have more than 190,000 noncitizen voters on its rolls.
    — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of asserted

Browse Nearby Words

contend
contended
contended (with)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Contended.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contended. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All