as in dispute
variance of opinion on a matter
the statement is certainly open to contestation among reasonable people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 contestation
After the conclusion of one set of political contestations, new challenges emerge: after World War II came the Cold War, for example.
—
Jonathan Kirshner, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2025
After Germany occupied Norway in 1940 and Adolf Hitler’s troops invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Svalbard became a key point of military contestation.
—James Patton Rogers & Caroline Kennedy Pipe / Made By History , TIME, 23 Jan. 2025
What that does is take these decisions out of the space of democratic contestation.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2025
His book outlines the dominance of white masculinity in presidential politics since the birth of our nation, and the ways in contestations over masculinity are evident in its most prominent political contests.
—Kelly Dittmar, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contestation
Jonathan Kirshner, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2025
After Germany occupied Norway in 1940 and Adolf Hitler’s troops invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Svalbard became a key point of military contestation.
—James Patton Rogers & Caroline Kennedy Pipe / Made By History , TIME, 23 Jan. 2025
What that does is take these decisions out of the space of democratic contestation.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2025
His book outlines the dominance of white masculinity in presidential politics since the birth of our nation, and the ways in contestations over masculinity are evident in its most prominent political contests.
—Kelly Dittmar, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contestation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contestation
Noun
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
However, California is far from the only state that saw its girls' track and field championships overshadowed by trans athlete controversy.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2025
-
Salgado’s pictures were also freighted with their fair share of controversy.—
Chris Wiley,
New Yorker,
31 May 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
This is thematically tied to the internal debate at Arsenal over the No 9 position.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
-
But how can any form of love take one side in a debate?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 June 2025
Noun
-
The suit recounts numerous comments made by Trump and the White House attacking PBS’ content, to underscore the point that the defunding is motivated by disagreement over speech.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
30 May 2025
-
The question – at the center of disagreements over transgender athletes’ participation in sports – has echoed from high school running tracks to Olympic arenas as lawmakers and sports bodies face intense pressure to weigh in on a debate over what fair play looks like.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contestation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contestation. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share