as in aggression
an inclination to fight or quarrel
his natural tendency towards contentiousness made him a poor choice for a diplomatic post
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Recent Examples of contentiousness
The theme of the contentiousness was that the Bengals didn’t have interest in offering any long-term guarantees that were a priority to the 31-year-old.
—
Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Reinecke attributed some of the contentiousness to a conflict between economic development and historic preservation.
—Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Reinecke attributed some of the contentiousness to a conflict between economic development and historic preservation.
—Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contentiousness
Noun
-
Kyiv fears that Moscow could use that territory as a launchpad for further aggression.—
Volodymyr Yurchuk,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Unfortunately, the quality of the program was low and resulted in rising aggression and behavior issues among children, especially boys, and hurt parental relationships.—
Abby McCloskey,
Boston Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
And though some executives have noted his methodical approach can be difficult when making deals, others have praised his overall aggressiveness.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
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Still, Bridges insists aggressiveness is not the issue.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Iran war has entered its fifth week with hostilities escalating across the region.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
31 Mar. 2026
-
After all, a bit more than a decade later, hostilities would explode anew in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, during which Nasser shut the canal again.—
Ishaan Tharoor,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But Bondi decided the moment called for combativeness, not contrition.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
11 Feb. 2026
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Bessent’s combativeness is, in part, a sign of the times, said David Lublin, chair of the Department of Government at American University’s School of Public Affairs.—
Fatima Hussein,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contentiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contentiousness. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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