Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use contentious in a sentence

25 example sentences · adjective

Contentious means marked by heated arguments or controversy. Example: “After a contentious election, Jones succeeded Smith as president of the republic.”

Examples of contentious by meaning

adjectiveMarked by heated arguments or controversy.

  • Ukraine, however, will complain long and hard about a contentious second-half incident when Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved.2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport

adjectiveGiven to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.

  • She was not a contentious person as the Other had been; she did not argue and contradict everything I said.2020, Susanna Clarke, Piranesi, Bloomsbury, page 212

More sentences with contentious

  • After a contentious election, Jones succeeded Smith as president of the republic.From the entry succeed
  • After contentious protests, gambling was illegalised by the legislature.From the entry illegalised
  • A diplomat whose approach to contentious negotiations was decidedly undercaffeinated.From the entry undercaffeinated
  • The use of the semicolon has remained contentious and subject to fashion.2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 28. From the entry semicolon
  • Second, cuts in education spending proved contentious, difficult to implement and were vulnerable to 'bleeding stump' opposition.2019 June 18, Martin Holmes, The First Thatcher Government, 1979-1983: Contemporary Conservatism And Economic Change, Routledge, →ISBN. From the entry bleeding stump
  • Poor acting and a muddied plot are the least of this contentious Netflix drama's problems.2017 July 14, Alex Flood, ‘To The Bone’ – Film Review. From the entry muddied
  • The Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre provides the wow factor for London's Olympics but its legacy is contentious.2012 January 28, The Guardian. From the entry wow factor
  • Because viewcounts wield so much power in search rankings, they are a contentious subject among YouTube uploaders.2012, Kiri Miller, Playing Along: Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance (The Oxford Music/Media Series), Oxford University…. From the entry viewcount
  • Tribal names are less contentious, though the word “tribe” itself is used principally in the United States.2011, Harry Swain, Oka: A Political Crisis and Its Legacy, page xii. From the entry Kanienkehaka
  • Painters, composers, writers, choreographers, and even filmists are becoming less contentious.1995, Gregory Battcock, Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, page 197. From the entry filmist
  • Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC. From the entry church
  • Jasmine Crockett, a fiery 44-year-old Democrat from the Dallas area, in a contentious primary that became increasingly personal.2026 March 4, Arlette Saenz, “James Talarico defeats Jasmine Crockett to win Democratic primary in Texas Senate race”, in CNN, archived…. From the entry defeat
  • Dissociative identity disorder is a contentious diagnosis: some professionals say the disorder is overdiagnosed; others say it doesn't even exist.2009 January 11, Jeanne Dorin Mcdowell, “The Four (at Least) Faces of Tara”, in New York Times. From the entry overdiagnose
  • Hawaii is noted for its multitude of contentious God-botherers.2009 August 20, Paul Theroux, “Happily a State, Forever an Island”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company…. From the entry God-botherer
  • That court would sedulously avoid meeting contentious issues and would sit in resplendent dignity aloof from the issues of the day.1980, William O. Douglas, The Court Years 1939-1972. From the entry sedulously
  • On the real winners of the contentious negotiations between Florida and LSU: "The cupcakes that got paid without having to get waffle-stomped!"2016 October 14, Mike Bianchi, “Splish Splash, UCF homecoming tradition is at top of Orlando sports bucket list!”, in Orlando Sentinel. From the entry waffle-stomp
  • It avoids the very contentious decisions, but it also unfortunately means that some very productive stuff takes a hit, rather than gets prioritised.2011 June 9, Naomi Long, Corporation Tax: First Report of Session 2010–12: House of Commons, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee […] (HC…. From the entry salami-slice
  • Going beyond FAPP to interpret quantum theory is today a growth industry, and a contentious field, though a very small fraction of physicists are involved.2011, Bruce Rosenblum, Fred Kuttner, Quantum Enigma, page 206. From the entry FAPP
  • Over the past ten years, a series of high-profile CEOs have broken unwritten omertas not to address the contentious challenges posed by climate change, human rights, and increased transparency.2010, Aron Cramer, Zachary Karabell, “Leadership”, in Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-changing World, New York…. From the entry omertà
  • Goldsmith-Jones is aware that higher-density housing in a municipality that has always been associated with sprawling houses and large properties is a contentious idea, but she believes it's necessary.2008 November 17, Amy O'Brian, “Densification coming to West Vancouver”, in Vancouver Sun. From the entry densification
  • This is essential in plural, heteroglot communities, if the school is to be inclusive, and is essential in those school subjects which are contentious and contended.2007, Julian Stern, Schools and Religions: Imagining the Real, →ISBN, page 26. From the entry heteroglot
  • A philosopheme is a demonstrative inference: an epichireme is a dialectical inference: a sophism is a contentious inference: an aporeme is an inference that reasons dialectically to a contradiction.2006, Aristotle, “VIII.11”, in W. D. Ross, transl., Topics. From the entry epichireme
  • In this contentious atmosphere, few countries wished to become involved in further argument on Korea, which for most of them was a remote and unpressing matter.1987, Ralph N[elson] Clough, “The Nonaligned Movement”, in Embattled Korea: The Rivalry for International Support, Boulder, Colo.; London…. From the entry unpressing

Meaning of contentious

  1. adjective Marked by heated arguments or controversy.
  2. adjective Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.

Full definition of contentious

Questions about contentious in a sentence

How do you use contentious in a sentence?
Contentious is used as an adjective. For example: “After a contentious election, Jones succeeded Smith as president of the republic.”
What is a short sentence with contentious?
“After contentious protests, gambling was illegalised by the legislature.”
What does contentious mean?
Contentious means marked by heated arguments or controversy.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: contentious (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use contentious in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/contentious. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.