variants also dissention

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun dissension contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of dissension are conflict, contention, discord, strife, and variance. While all these words mean "a state or condition marked by a lack of agreement or harmony," dissension implies strife or discord and stresses a division into factions.

religious dissension threatened to split the colony

Where would conflict be a reasonable alternative to dissension?

The words conflict and dissension are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, conflict usually stresses the action of forces in opposition but in static applications implies an irreconcilability as of duties or desires.

the conflict of freedom and responsibility

When is contention a more appropriate choice than dissension?

The synonyms contention and dissension are sometimes interchangeable, but contention applies to strife or competition that shows itself in quarreling, disputing, or controversy.

several points of contention about the new zoning law

When might discord be a better fit than dissension?

The words discord and dissension can be used in similar contexts, but discord implies an intrinsic or essential lack of harmony producing quarreling, factiousness, or antagonism.

a political party long racked by discord

When is it sensible to use strife instead of dissension?

Although the words strife and dissension have much in common, strife emphasizes a struggle for superiority rather than the incongruity or incompatibility of the persons or things involved.

during his brief reign the empire was never free of civil strife

When could variance be used to replace dissension?

The meanings of variance and dissension largely overlap; however, variance implies a clash between persons or things owing to a difference in nature, opinion, or interest.

cultural variances that work against a national identity

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 dissension There were leadership changes in the IRS and Treasury that resulted in changes to the plan, internal dissension about whether the redesign strategies would support IRS mission requirements, and redirections that caused delays. Marie Sapirie, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025 There was no public dissention. Katie Campione, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2025 Musk has already triggered internal dissension in the White House, with figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly clashing bitterly with him at a Cabinet meeting over layoffs and government cutbacks at the State Department. Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 13 Mar. 2025 The application of Fannie Barrier Williams, a Black woman, caused dissension in the club. Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dissension
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissension
Noun
  • What all of these cases have in common is a truly gigantic deer, and then, sadly, lots of discord within the hunting community.
    Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 15 May 2025
  • In addition to the discord within the athletic department, Ritz acknowledged in an April 11 email to the community that he’s also dealt with two other serious issues involving staffers.
    Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 11 May 2025
Noun
  • But that same morning, the party suffered a setback that may be more consequential: losing control of the state board that sets voting rules and adjudicates election disputes.
    Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica, 16 May 2025
  • If not, the consumer can file a dispute with the credit card issuer, Kiernan said.
    Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 16 May 2025
Noun
  • The fight over Trump’s deportation policy is a major source of strife.
    Mike Lillis, The Hill, 12 May 2025
  • After years of strife for the California film and television industry, Gov. Gavin Newsom in October proposed a significant increase to the overall cap on incentives, more than doubling it from $330 million to $750M annually.
    Katie Campione, Deadline, 11 May 2025
Noun
  • This wasn’t an idle disagreement: to suspect a conspiracy was to suspect a coverup.
    Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
  • However, disagreements on how she would be featured ended without a cover and with the friendship irrevocably broken.
    Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 19 May 2025
Noun
  • The University needs—and does, in fact, tolerate—a degree of internal dissent; dissenters make the educational enterprise seem, in that romantic retrospect, legitimate.
    Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 17 May 2025
  • Advertisement Advertisement Only two of the court’s Justices—Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas—publicly noted their dissent.
    Nik Popli, Time, 16 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
  • The White House has said there is no conflict and that the president is acting in the interests of the American public and not his own.
    Susan Heavey, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • The child’s interest became the starting point to explore the moral and human conflict.
    Alissa Simon, Variety, 14 May 2025
Noun
  • Her crypto controversy began the very next day, resulting in a show hiatus.
    Skyler Caruso, People.com, 20 May 2025
  • Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have attracted their own commencement controversies.
    Emma Whitford, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dissension.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissension. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on dissension

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