disputatious

adjective

ˌdi-spyə-ˈtā-shəs How to pronounce disputatious (audio)
Definition of disputatiousnext
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

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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

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 disputatious Trump has pioneered a style of communication that exploits our distracted, disputatious age. — Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026 Its titular Pebble and Clod might remind you of characters in a picture book or a TV show — disputatious friends like Frog and Toad or Ernie and Bert. — New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026 In other words, students prepare for citizenship in a disputatious society by practicing the civic arts—by asserting and advocating for their views—not by meekly absorbing lessons from their instructors. — Christopher L. Eisgruber, Time, 9 Oct. 2025 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disputatious
  1. aggressive
  2. controversial
  3. contentious
  4. militant
  5. polemical
  6. hostile
  7. quarrelsome
  8. irritable
Adjective
  • The son of a onetime Republican who worked for President Ronald Reagan, Colom garnered attention for his aggressive campaign as Democrats widened the Senate battleground map and Hyde-Smith's vulnerabilities crystallized.
    — BILL BARROW, Arkansas Online, 12 Nov. 2026
  • In an October report, Goldman Sachs observed that intense competition and aggressive discounting by global brands had dominated the retail landscape.
    — Denni Hu, Footwear News, 12 Nov. 2026
Definition of aggressive
Adjective
  • Tuesday’s lawsuit is the fourth legal challenge brought against the president’s highly controversial monument.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Google has agreed to additional privacy protections ​in the wake of its controversial acquisition of ‌business data from bankrupt Spirit Airlines, both the airline and unions representing former airline employees announced Tuesday.
    — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of controversial
Adjective
  • Skip to Main Content Concert Review The first of a historic five-night run at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was contentious and confounding.
    — DeAsia Paige, AJC.com, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The Ravens, meanwhile, are 4-4 and sit at the bottom of a contentious AFC North.
    — Jason Cohen, PC Magazine, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of contentious
Adjective
  • Some reports have alleged tacit cooperation between Ansar Allah and the Al-Shabab militant group in Somalia as well.
    — Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Eisenkot has laid out a series of conditions for any Arab party to join his coalition, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and declaring the Palestinian militant group Hamas a terrorist organization.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of militant
Adjective
  • These answers become polemic (for want of anything more interesting or, dare to say it, insightful) and the world keeps on spinning.
    — Sam Peskin, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Speaking a few weeks after the launch of Tom Cruise-starring satirical polemic Digger, Wishart feels docs and features about this subject matter have become overly preachy.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of polemical
Adjective
  • Its ability to strike land targets from considerable distances allows naval forces to conduct precision attacks without moving their launch platforms close to hostile territory.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • North Korea’s constitution had been offline since March 2024, months after Kim had declared at a party plenary meeting in late 2023 that the two Koreas are separate, hostile states.
    — Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Nov. 2026
Definition of hostile
Adjective
  • Volatile, quarrelsome, dogmatic, and sure of his own brilliance, Reinhold outraged patrons, amassed huge debts, and turned his eldest son into an exhausted workhorse.
    — Jenny Uglow, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026
  • The toys, like the perpetually quarrelsome Woody and Buzz or Jessie the cowgirl, who now takes center stage, have seen their boy and girl owners grow up and leave them behind.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 June 2026
Definition of quarrelsome
Adjective
  • And this new Godzilla, entirely computer-generated, is an irritable muscle of spikes and scales, or like a sort of angry gothic pineapple.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Murray says her own experience has made her more understanding when female colleagues seem more tired or irritable than usual, particularly when the behavior is out of character.
    — Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of irritable

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disputatious
disputatiousness
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Cite this Entry

“Disputatious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disputatious. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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