Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use controversial in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Controversial means arousing or likely to arouse controversy. Example: “His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.”

Examples of controversial by meaning

nounSomeone or something (such as a matter or an argument) that is controversial.

  • Although the numbers of controversial children were few, their finely tuned distinction between types of transgression concurs with the observation that the behaviour of controversials is highly skilled.1997, Michael Siegal, Knowing Children: Experiments in Conversation and Cognition (Essays in Developmental Psychology), 2nd edition, Hove...
  • It would be interesting to know whether the leadership capacities with which the controversials are credited is a mitigating factor with respect to their risk potential.2000, J. D. Coie, K. A. Dodge, H. Coppotelli, “Dimensions and types of social status: a cross-age perspective”, in Peter K. Smith...

More sentences with controversial

  • His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.From the entry waver
  • DRS showed he was out of the crease in a controversial run out review.From the entry crease
  • The politician's post was quickly ratioed due to its controversial nature.From the entry ratio
  • The politician received a lot of public criticism for his controversial stance on the issue.From the entry criticism
  • The athlete's graceful acceptance of the controversial second-place finish won the admiration of the spectators.From the entry graceful
  • The controversial article triggered a deluge of angry letters from readers.From the entry trigger
  • The politician was pummeled by the media for his controversial statements.From the entry pummel
  • Due to his controversial views the Vatican decided to laicise the priest.From the entry laicize
  • Why should we ban controversial speakers from college grounds? Surely that's political correctness gone mad?From the entry go mad
  • Although quantum suicide is a well-reasoned argument, the multi-universe premise on which it stands is more controversial.From the entry quantum suicide
  • The government has stripped away some of our basic rights by passing a series of controversial laws.From the entry strip away
  • His experiences debating made him a more articulate communicator, not least because the topics were often controversial.From the entry not least
  • The social network's new owner decided to replatform the controversial celebrity whose account had previously been banned.From the entry replatform
  • The BBC decided not to air the controversial episode.From the entry air
  • The controversial TV broadcast brought a storm of complaints.From the entry bring
  • His designation as chief justice was controversial.From the entry designation
  • The book was highly controversial yet sold unbelievably well.From the entry highly
  • When leaked, the controversial documents proved to be political napalm.From the entry napalm
  • Our phones were flooded with calls after the controversial broadcast.From the entry flooded
  • The renomination of the controversial candidate was not received well.From the entry renomination
  • My controversial post got thousands of reblogs within a week.From the entry reblog
  • The controversial documentary was uncarried by most TV networks.From the entry uncarried
  • It was a way for them to avoid probable controversial consequences and achieve ‘technological neutrality’.2024, Amin Heidari, “Visual Language and Mind Engineering: The Case of Multicultural Emojis”, in Chris Shei, James Schnell, editors, The…. From the entry Fitzpatrick scale
  • The NHS Covid-19 app behind the controversial “pingdemic” is to be shut down next month.2023 March 29, “‘Pingdemic’ Covid app to be locked down forever”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 2. From the entry pingdemic
  • That is, until a controversial decision goes against their team with another official.5 January 2023, “Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz put 'in the fridge' for card-happy performances”, in OneFootball. From the entry pantomime villain
  • Since its inception the apostrophe has been a controversial piece of punctuation.2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 30. From the entry apostrophe
  • Within the realm of vintage watch restoration there are few sub-specialties as controversial as dial lume.2020, Colin A. White, The Vintage Rolex Field Manual Chevalier Digital Edition, page 46. From the entry lume
  • Vladimir Putin has signed into law a controversial amendment that decriminalises some forms of domestic violence.2017 July 2, Shaun Walker, “Putin approves legal change that decriminalises some domestic violence”, in The Guardian. From the entry decriminalise
  • Games can hinge on the sort of controversial decision made by Taylor in the 10th minute.2015 March 4, Louise Taylor, The Guardian. From the entry hinge
  • In this totally unexhaustive list, we bring you some of the most controversial manglings and refusals.2015 September 16, Damien Gayle, “To sing or not to sing: a history of national anthem gaffes”, in The Guardian. From the entry unexhaustive
  • The definitions of hypo vitaminosis or hyper vitaminosis are more controversial.2015 August 19, Dylan T. Dahlquist, Brad P. Dieter, Michael S. Koehle, “Plausible ergogenic effects of vitamin D on athletic performance…. From the entry vitaminosis
  • In Egypt and the wider Mediterranean world, this practice - sortilege - was both common and controversial.2014, AnneMarie Luijendijk, “Introduction”, in Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Studien und Texte zu Antike und…. From the entry sortilege
  • The term 'denier' is also controversial, with connotations that climate denial is akin to Holocaust denial.2013, G. Thomas Farmer, John Cook, Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis, →ISBN, page 446. From the entry climate denial
  • Ellison, Oracle’s chief executive and largest shareholder, has put his money where his controversial mouth is.2010 September 6, Ashlee Vance, “Hurd Is Now a President at Oracle, H.P.’s Rival”, in The New York Times. From the entry co-president
  • She also submitted herself to daggering, the shameless, controversial dancehall dance maneuver that involves rapid-fire pelvic thrusts.2009 September 7, Jon Caramanica, “A Dose of Raunch on a Night of Stars, Shtick and Slapstick”, in New York Times. From the entry daggering
  • In a compost bin or wormery, they disappear even faster, but composting pet waste is controversial.2009, Anna Shepard, How Green are My Wellies?. From the entry biobag
  • The Yahwist (J) has also come under controversial discussion as well in the recent years.2006, Thomas B. Dozeman, Konrad Schmid, A Farewell to the Yahwist?, page 30. From the entry Yahwist
  • For example, it recommended allowing a controversial viatical insurance industry in the province.2003, Richard V. Ericson, Aaron Doyle, Dean Barry, Diana Ericson, Insurance as Governance, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 149. From the entry viatical

Meaning of controversial

  1. adjective Arousing or likely to arouse controversy.
  2. adjective Engaging in or given to controversy; disputatious, argumentative.
  3. noun Someone or something (such as a matter or an argument) that is controversial.

Full definition of controversial

Questions about controversial in a sentence

How do you use controversial in a sentence?
Controversial is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.”
What is a short sentence with controversial?
“His designation as chief justice was controversial.”
What does controversial mean?
Controversial means arousing or likely to arouse controversy.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: controversial (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 controversial in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/controversial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.