CONTROVERT Synonyms: 46 Similar and Opposite Words

controvert

verb

ˈkän-trə-ˌvərt

as in to argue

to express different opinions about something often angrily ever since the poem was first published, critics and scholars have controverted over the meaning of its concluding lines

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Recent Examples of controvert Those then who controvert the principle that the constitution is to be considered, in court, as a paramount law, are reduced to the necessity of maintaining that courts must close their eyes on the constitution, and see only the law. —

Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 29 July 2025 Many of those people had been convicted of assaulting police officers, prompting a backlash from Democrats — and even some Republicans — who said Trump’s move controverted Republican claims of being the party that champions law and order and personal responsibility. —

Mike Lillis, The Hill, 23 Jan. 2025 Even assuming this is true (and this description will be controverted at trial), a monopoly by itself does not violate the antitrust laws. —

Alden Abbott, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024 The appellate court noted that the woman’s testimony was controverted. —

Virginia Hammerle, Dallas News, 16 May 2023 During the upcoming weeks and through the appeal a slew of additional credible and controverting evidence will come to light. —

Ben Shpigel, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for controvert

Verb

Black voters who feared losing representation in Congress opposed that request and argued the justices should instead hold onto their April 29 ruling until after the election because voting in the primary had already begun.

— Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 5 May 2026
Yet its release may reflect a bid by European officials to seize upon a hope that critics have argued has long been their sole strategy to defeat Russia in Ukraine – to wait for its internal collapse.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 4 May 2026