CONTENDS Synonyms: 89 Similar and Opposite Words

contends

verb

present tense third-person singular of contend

as in competes

to engage in a contest two traditional rivals contending for the championship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in argues

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

as in alleges

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 contends The union contends that University of Illinois workers were given 2% raises in August but the advanced practice providers were not. — Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026 Hanson contends that if passed, many renters won't need to ever invoke the policy. — Caroline Cummings, CBS News, 29 Oct. 2026 The latter contends that on July 2 Van Gogh sent Theo a drawing based on the painting and that because of his breakdown on July 22, he was rendered unable to paint. — News Desk, Artforum, 26 Oct. 2026 The lawsuit in District Court for the District of Columbia contends that the federal government failed to comply with numerous statutes. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026 Some of the roughly 18 locations were chosen, Hale contends, because the city failed to respond to numerous 311 calls for improvement. — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 But Uthmeier contends an overly broad reading of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause has been twisted into a tool to suppress Christians and other believers. — Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026 The White House contends that the new proposal would give banks more flexibility under the law and drive greater economic development. — Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026 On the other hand, the fossil fuel industry contends the legislation would prevent states and environmental groups from weaponizing courts to stop projects for reasons beyond what is written in federal statutes. — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contends

Verb

Advanced Micro Devices competes with Nvidia in AI chips, while Applied Materials supplies semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

— Luke Fountain, CNBC, 7 Nov. 2026
Among some of the revelations, Piper heads to northern Spain for an au naturel winter swim, Wirtz competes with his sister for DJ duties, and Kelce combines a night game with home comforts.

— Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of competes

Verb

Akhtar argues that Spanish-speaking Muslims of Latin American descent are uniquely positioned to act as bridge-builders between Jewish and Muslim communities.

— Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 13 Nov. 2026
The company argues that much of the opposition is based on wrong or insufficient information, and contends that its operation wouldn’t drain resources or damage the environment, but would produce a hefty tax revenue boost for Cromwell.

— Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 13 Nov. 2026

Definition of argues

Verb

The indictment alleges that McDonnell spent some of the funds paying creditors and Bellum Entertainment’s payroll.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2026
Linda Gilbert, who was 78 at the time of the incident, alleges that hospital staff injected the wrong drug into her spinal canal during the procedure.

— Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 11 Nov. 2026

Definition of alleges

Verb

Black asserts that the statements made by Garcia are false and that traveling to appear on national television to make such statements about the inquiry into Epstein’s crimes goes beyond the purview of a member of Congress.

— Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 5 Nov. 2026
Those statements were false and were made maliciously, Black asserts through his lawyers.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of asserts

Verb

Brown, of Relativity, insists that adopting AI is a necessary move to maintain healthy peer-to-peer and global competition.

— S. Sorrina Beecher, Chicago Tribune, 13 Nov. 2026
To our confoundment, the script insists that Gary, now retired, was the rare honest NYPD officer — and, weirder still, acts like that was obvious.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2026

Definition of insists

Verb

Google also claims the model outperforms competing systems across benchmarks covering agent routing, reasoning, ranking and multimodal understanding, while achieving the lowest calibration error.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 11 Nov. 2026
All of these companies are being sued by PHI Health, a national air ambulance chain, which claims the employers are responsible for bills that health insurers haven’t fully paid, or have delayed paying.

— Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 11 Nov. 2026