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contentious
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  • It is the beauty of small areas of order—a large yard, a group of trees, three similar dormitories, a circle of old houses—living together in contentious harmony.  (source)
    contentious = causing or likely to cause disagreement
  • PARRIS: Giles Corey, sir, and a more contentious  (source)
    contentious = argumentative
  • Now, eight years after her contentious funeral ... he changed his mind.  (source)
    contentious = combative (involving argument or heated differences)
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Show 10 more with 4 word variations
  • "'It is better,'" I recited piously, "'to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house with a contentious woman."  (source)
    contentious = argumentative or likely to cause disagreement
  • His face had lately adopted an expression of playful contentiousness.†  (source)
    contentiousness = tendency to cause disagreement
    standard suffix: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.
  • "Now, Ben, he was a Roman—let me tell," said Letty, using her elbow contentiously.†  (source)
    contentiously = in a manner that causes or is likely to cause disagreement  OR  in an argumentative manner
  • It's a noncontentious sort of meat.†  (source)
    noncontentious = not likely to cause argument
    standard prefix: The prefix "non-" in noncontentious means not and reverses the meaning of contentious. This is the same pattern you see in words like nonfat, nonfiction, and nonprofit.
  • "Samuel," she said, "you're the most contentious man this world has ever seen."  (source)
    contentious = argumentative
  • The purpose of the assignment is to instill a degree of contentiousness on the part of the one driving the car.†  (source)
    contentiousness = tendency to cause disagreement
  • A round of haggling ensued, at the end of which Rasheed said to Aziza contentiously, as if it were she who'd haggled him, "Give it back.†  (source)
    contentiously = in a manner that causes or is likely to cause disagreement  OR  in an argumentative manner
  • But next on the docket was a subject that proved more contentious.†  (source)
  • It was as though the sirens heralded the presence of some cont rolling mechanism—a thing we would do well not to provoke with our contentiousness and spilled food.†  (source)
    contentiousness = tendency to cause disagreement
  • "How different?" he inquired, solemnly and contentiously, taking up a glass and drinking from it.†  (source)
    contentiously = in a manner that causes or is likely to cause disagreement  OR  in an argumentative manner
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