controversy
/kənˈtɹɒv.ə.si//ˈkɑn.tɹəˌvɝ.si/
controversy noun: a debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.
Noun
controversy (countable and uncountable, plural controversies)
- A debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.
- [A]nd it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churliſh, thwart, and mutinous; […]1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for...
- From time to time I have been permitted to behold the working, in different ages, of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God's holy law.1911 [1888], Ellen G. White, “Introduction”, in The Great Controversy, page x
- Synonyms:
- argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery, brawl, clash
controversy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
controversy in Hindi
- debate, discussion of opposing opinions
- विवाद vivād
controversy in Tamil
- controversy
- சர்ச்சை carccai
controversy in Urdu
- controversy
- بباد bibād
controversy in Bengali
- controversy
- তর্ক torko
More languagesFewer languages
- controversy in Malayalam
- വിവാദം
- controversy in Kannada
- ಜಗಳ, ಮಾರ್ಪಗೆತ, ವಾದವಿವಾದ, ವಿವಾದ
- controversy in Punjabi
- ਵਾਦ vād
- controversy in Sanskrit
- वादयुद्ध vādayuddha, विवाद vivāda
- controversy in Tagalog
- kontrobersiya
- controversy in Arabic
- جَدَل jadal
- controversy in Malay
- kontroversi
- controversy in Indonesian
- kontroversi, perdebatan
- controversy in Persian
- هم ستیزی
- controversy in Thai
- การโต้เถียง gaan-dtôo-tǐiang, การวิวาท wí-wâat
- controversy in Vietnamese
- tranh cãi
Examples of controversy in a sentence
- The game was engulfed in controversy when [Jack] Rodwell appeared to win the ball cleanly in a midfield challenge with [Luis] Suarez.2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 – 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2019:
- It caused controversy, with Sunderland traders protesting that their shops were just as good as those in Leeds.2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:
Synonyms of controversy
29 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of controversy
| plural | controversies |
|---|
Origin of controversy
From Middle English controversie, from Old French controversie, from Latin contrōversia (“debate, contention, controversy”), from contrōversus (“turned in an opposite direction”).
Words formed from controversy
Phrases with controversy
Questions about controversy
- What does controversy mean?
- Controversy means a debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.
- What is controversy in Hindi?
- Controversy in Hindi is विवाद (vivād). See Controversy meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use controversy in a sentence?
- The game was engulfed in controversy when [Jack] Rodwell appeared to win the ball cleanly in a midfield challenge with [Luis] Suarez.
- What part of speech is controversy?
- Controversy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce controversy?
- Controversy is pronounced /kənˈtɹɒv.ə.si/.
- What is the plural of controversy?
- The plural of controversy is controversies.
Words near controversy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: controversy (page history and authors); சர்ச்சை (Tamil) (page history and authors); بباد (Urdu) (page history and authors); তর্ক (Bengali) (page history and authors); controversy (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); controversy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਵਾਦ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-controversy.wav, En-us-controversy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “controversy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/controversy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.