as in aggression
an inclination to fight or quarrel
his natural tendency towards contentiousness made him a poor choice for a diplomatic post
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Recent Examples of contentiousness
The theme of the contentiousness was that the Bengals didn’t have interest in offering any long-term guarantees that were a priority to the 31-year-old.
—
Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Reinecke attributed some of the contentiousness to a conflict between economic development and historic preservation.
—Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Reinecke attributed some of the contentiousness to a conflict between economic development and historic preservation.
—Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contentiousness
Noun
-
For her, this was practically homicidal aggression.—
Chang-rae Lee,
New Yorker,
3 May 2026
-
Race, bad bosses and the fly-on-the-wall fun of watching office politics and micro-aggressions play out makes this workplace suspense novel a total page-turner (as well as a binge-worthy limited television series).—
Laura Zigman,
PEOPLE,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
Embiid’s aggressiveness early — along with Tyrese Maxey’s speed and ability to put defenders in bad positions — put the Knicks in unfavorable foul trouble early.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
5 May 2026
-
The team with the league’s highest payroll going down in the first round to a heavy underdog is bad for business, but Allen changed the entire dynamic with his defensive aggressiveness and rebounding.—
Jason Lloyd,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
As this sequence plays out, the social fabric further shreds and unravels; trust circles shrink and become ever more homogeneous; and hostility, mean spiritedness, and a general hardening take hold in society.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
3 May 2026
-
The president did send a letter to Congress, just to recap, saying that hostilities have been terminated, given the ceasefire that was put in place on April 7th.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
3 May 2026
Noun
-
As a student at Dartmouth College, Dhillon doubled down on her political beliefs with a combativeness that foreshadowed her later commitment to MAGA.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
13 Apr. 2026
-
But Bondi decided the moment called for combativeness, not contrition.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contentiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contentiousness. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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