as in altercations
an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions
like any couple, they have their spats
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in bickers
to express different opinions about something often angrily
we tend to spat over money more than anything else
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spats
Noun
-
The arrest was the culminating incident in a string of altercations between the couple over their son Lyrik, then 5.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
21 Mar. 2025 -
There have been almost no physical altercations in the Little Scandinavia unit, for example.—
ByJennifer Couzin-Frankel,
science.org,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Iyengar added that today’s political believers are also willing to overlook any possible disagreements on public policy matters.—
John Scott Lewinski,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
14 Mar. 2025
-
Previous ceasefire efforts have collapsed due to disagreements over the terms of hostage releases and Israel's demand for Hamas to disarm—something Hamas has repeatedly refused to do.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
Newsweek,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
White argues that the crypto industry has become a re-creation of much of what its original ideology claimed to despise.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
11 Dec. 2024
-
But Vanessa Cho, design partner at GV, Alphabet’s venture capital division, argues that’s the wrong way for founders to think about design.—
Lionel Lim,
Fortune Asia,
10 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
This year’s ceremony is the second under new leadership after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was dissolved following controversies including allegations the HFPA had no Black members, ran smear campaigns and engaged in questionable financial practices.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes,
3 Jan. 2025
-
Chiles won team gold at the Paris Olympics but became embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of the Games when she was instructed to give up her individual floor exercise bronze medal to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.—
Benjamin Royer,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The panel explicitly rejected arguments distinguishing OSC’s power from other executive agencies, reinforcing expansive executive authority in this area.—
Kaelan Deese,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
24 Mar. 2025
-
Federal judges already have the power to punish attorneys and law firms for bringing meritless lawsuits and legal arguments.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
24 Mar. 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
“Spats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spats. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share