1
as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a long history of little wars waged by the disputatious countries occupying that European peninsula
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in controversial
given to arguing
a disputatious professor who could give you an argument on just about anything
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in contentious
relating to or causing the expression of opposing opinions
dismayed at the prospect of enduring another disputatious meeting of the school board
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disputatious
The potential for sharp, disputatious cultural criticism has arguably slackened.
—
David Remnick, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2025
The film shows the occasionally disputatious relationship between Marvin and her grandparents, who raised her.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 12 Jan. 2025
Hoback followed Back to a Bitcoin conference in Riga, Latvia, where Back introduced him to one of his younger protégés, a prominent if disputatious Bitcoin developer named Peter Todd.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
This disputatious sociopolitical drama is cunningly packaged as a romantic comedy.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024
The 1990s were especially disputatious; civil wars arose on multiple continents, as did major wars in Europe and Africa.
—Paul Poast, The Atlantic, 17 Nov. 2023
Mercurial, determined, needy, disputatious—the moods more so than seasons of Acker’s life were rapid, and any biography is bound to contradict and complement and hone the myths that continue to attract us to her writing and her symbol.
—Liz Sullivan, Hazlitt, 5 Dec. 2022
Today’s disputatious conservatives are leading our latest effort to conjoin individual freedom and collective purpose.
—Christopher Demuth, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022
David Remnick, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2025
The film shows the occasionally disputatious relationship between Marvin and her grandparents, who raised her.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 12 Jan. 2025
Hoback followed Back to a Bitcoin conference in Riga, Latvia, where Back introduced him to one of his younger protégés, a prominent if disputatious Bitcoin developer named Peter Todd.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
This disputatious sociopolitical drama is cunningly packaged as a romantic comedy.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024
The 1990s were especially disputatious; civil wars arose on multiple continents, as did major wars in Europe and Africa.
—Paul Poast, The Atlantic, 17 Nov. 2023
Mercurial, determined, needy, disputatious—the moods more so than seasons of Acker’s life were rapid, and any biography is bound to contradict and complement and hone the myths that continue to attract us to her writing and her symbol.
—Liz Sullivan, Hazlitt, 5 Dec. 2022
Today’s disputatious conservatives are leading our latest effort to conjoin individual freedom and collective purpose.
—Christopher Demuth, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disputatious
Adjective
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Cynics may not believe the aggressive talk from the company.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
28 Sep. 2025
-
And the Buckeyes are working through some kinks in an offense that turns from conservative to aggressive in random segments of the game.—
Cameron Teague Robinson,
New York Times,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial remarks about Kirk’s killing prompted ABC to temporarily suspend his late-night TV show, which has prompted widespread concerns around free speech.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
-
On Friday, the controversial author responded to a clip of comedian Intel Lady spoofing Watson’s recent conversation on the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast.—
Carly Thomas,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
China began conducting the contentious patrols after a February 2024 accident in which two Chinese fishermen drowned near Kinmen while fleeing from Taiwan’s coast guard.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Appointing James Bunce as performance director, having worked with him before at Monaco, was arguably the best decision of Mitchell’s short — and contentious — tenure.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As such, the political and militant body – which has governed the territory since June 2007 – will need to be in a desperate situation to accept the terms.—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Trump’s peace plan has backed Hamas into a corner, leaving the militant group to face an existential dilemma.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Students from the kingdom are increasingly turning away from US universities in particular, put off by a mix of hostile immigration policies, concerns over gun violence, and the kingdom’s own push to grow its domestic education sector.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The move to social media and algorithmic media was really a move toward a style of political communication that is somewhat hostile to the liberal project and the deliberative, open-minded, thoughtful, on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand mode of discourse that Obama is good at.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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All arms come from coal and steel and integrated industries would stop Europe’s most quarrelsome countries waging war on one another.—
Sara Stridsberg
September 15,
Literary Hub,
15 Sep. 2025
-
How did Marlowe find the space in his head, let alone in his days and nights, to compose his quarrelsome works, aiming them so squarely at the heavens and the gut?—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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However, such symptoms are hard to attribute to vaccines because infants can be irritable or fussy regardless of vaccination.—
Aria Bendix,
NBC news,
19 Sep. 2025
-
When the caffeine wears off, children may have a headache and feel irritable or tired.—
Dr. Mark Corkins,
Boston Herald,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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For years, scientists have focused on finding ways to neutralize or eliminate this stubborn waste.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Sep. 2025
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That ever-persistent chasm that has existed between white students and those of color in public schools has remained stubborn in Michigan, where more than 18% of Michigan's public school students are Black.—
Lily Altavena,
Freep.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disputatious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disputatious. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
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