as in arguing
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for controverting
Verb
-
For decades, DeLodder said, hospitals have quelled the establishment of freestanding birthing centers by arguing against their necessity.—
Killian Baarlaer,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025 -
The budget director wrote the project’s chapter on the Executive Office of the President, arguing that the bureaucracy is riddled with inefficiencies and corruption.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Jennifer Aniston’s Alex Levy, Reese Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson, and the other members of The Morning Show’s newsroom and its network are once again bickering and backstabbing.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Coaches are also bickering about money, a topic that would have felt out of place 10 years ago.—
Eben Novy-Williams,
Sportico.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Meet Nashville's new crime-fighting Clydesdale Metro Nashville mounted patrol officer Michael Douglas squeezed a three-foot-long rubber chicken, producing an increasingly louder and closer screeching sound to try and provoke a 1,700-pound Clydesdale named Ross.—
Laura L. Davis,
Nashville Tennessean,
6 Oct. 2025
-
The event, launched in 1982, celebrates the freedom to read and express ideas and emphasizes the importance of fighting censorship.—
Jennifer Borresen,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Will the two be allowed to wed, or will Ellen’s brothers, quarrelling over their father’s chair, bargain her off to other suitors to improve their chances?—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
To convey a sense of spontaneity and freedom of self-expression, Marino relied on maxi proportions, clashing prints and an interplay of airy, fluid fabrics with structured textures.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
29 Sep. 2025
-
But Anderson knows that, amid clashing political extremes, racial and ideological purists can make surprising, and treacherous, bedfellows.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Controverting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/controverting. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share