controversial
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of controversy, or prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; polemical.
a controversial book.
-
subject to controversy; debatable.
a controversial decision.
- Synonyms:
- questionable, arguable
-
given to controversy; argumentative; disputatious.
a controversial public figure.
Usage
What does controversial mean? Controversial is used to describe someone or something that causes people to get upset and argue.Controversial is the adjective form of the noun controversy, which is a prolonged dispute, debate, or state of contention, especially one that unfolds in public and involves a stark difference of opinion. Things commonly called controversial include topics, actions, and people (particularly for what they say and do).Example: Questions about the candidate’s controversial remarks from the past prevented him from talking about his campaign.
Other Word Forms
- controversialism noun
- controversialist noun
- controversially adverb
- noncontroversial adjective
- noncontroversially adverb
- precontroversial adjective
- uncontroversial adjective
- uncontroversially adverb
Etymology
Origin of controversial
First recorded in 1575–85; from Late Latin contrōversiālis; equivalent to controversy + -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Defense spending is due to get “more urgent and less controversial,” an analyst notes, and numerous stocks could benefit.
A controversial red card in both of those games, of course, but the performances were still a mile off what Celtic used to be.
From BBC
The Dallas-based energy conglomerate accused Greenpeace of orchestrating violence and defamation during the controversial construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly a decade ago.
From Barron's
More controversial is his pick of Blue Owl Capital Inc., whose ticker is OBDC, the main publicly traded BDC from Blue Owl Capital Corp., ticker OWL.
From Barron's
However, Elon Musk’s xAI signed a deal to allow its controversial Grok model to be used for classified purposes earlier this week.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
