Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views. See Synonyms at argument.
- n. The act or practice of engaging in such disputes: writers skilled at controversy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Disputation; debate; agitation of contrary opinions; a formal or prolonged debate; dispute.
- n. Specifically A suit in law; the contention in a civil action; a case in which opposing parties contend for their respective claims before a tribunal.
- n. A matter in dispute; a question to settle.
- n. Antagonism; resistance.
Wiktionary
- n. A debate, discussion of opposing opinions; strife.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Contention; dispute; debate; discussion; agitation of contrary opinions.
- n. Quarrel; strife; cause of variance; difference.
- n. obsolete A suit in law or equity; a question of right.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
Etymologies
- From Latin controversia ("debate, contention, controversy"), from controversus ("turned in an opposite direction"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English controversie, from Latin contrōversia, from contrōversus, disputed : contrō- (variant of contrā, contra-) + versus, past participle of vertere, to turn; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“My current favorite Palin controversy is whether or not she attended the secessionist Alaska Independence Party's 1994 convention.”
“If the matter in controversy is important, so that defeat is a serious blow to the credit or the power of the litigant who is worsted, that interest becomes a”
“With just a wee bit of hubris, Devenanzio, who believes he made "Johnny Bananas" a household name, told TMZ the name controversy is "in no way coincidental and is instead an attempt to capitalize on the name recognition which I'm solely responsible for creating.”
“The owners of the Mancrunch. com site deny it was a publicity stunt, but the controversy is almost certain to direct tens of thousands of eyeballs to the ad without the company shelling out a single dollar.”
“They hold onto this obsession even to the detriment of the country, and this controversy is a clear example of that.”
“While some Democrats suggested the issues would ultimately be seen as innocent mistakes or technicalities, the controversy is a big embarrassment for a man in line to head the department with responsibility for enforcing the tax code.”
Geithner, Choice for Treasury, Questioned on His Tax Returns - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
“But Sanders said the controversy is a misunderstanding.”
“Wow, seeing the developer here talking about the game and the controversy is a real treat.”
“Whitman told reporters after the debate the controversy is a sideshow from the issues Californians want to focus on, such as jobs and education.”
The Huffington Post: Whitman, Brown Spar Over Maid Scandal In Heated Debate
“At the heart of the controversy is a 2003 document from the Social Security Administration alerting the Whitman household to discrepancies with the maid's Social Security number, saying it did not match the name on file.”
The Huffington Post: Meg Whitman Housekeeper Scandal Shakes Up Governor's Race
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘controversy’.
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PHIL - vocabulary of thinking
philosophy, Socratic, dialogue, philosopher, Athenian, philosophical, politic, Greek, method, death, ancient, believe and 243 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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Words that Make Me Cry
geek, nerd, wishywashy, freak, issue, ticktock, school, university, uni, work, task, homework and 12 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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africasunsets's list
serendipity, fragrance, glamour, smitten, nourish, lavish, luxury, wicked, gem, daring, soothe, fantasy and 192 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
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My Words
Words that I use regularly and consider mine.
zen, poser, savvy, angst, flustered, bitter, whatsoever, farfetched, indeed, scenario, inevitable, salvage and 134 more...
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G & G
GRE , GMAT , TOEFL , IELTS , SAT 。。。
alphabet soup, vernacular, aberrant, abeyance, abet, recant, contrite, reiterate, patois, skew, senate, deliberative and 179 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Speaking in Tongues - an REM list
Words heard in various REM songs that I enjoy and that I think are indicative of the band. Not too literally, of course.
pilgrimage, pageant, suspicion, penitence, gentlemen, chronic, stigma, deadlier, transit, fortunate, momentum, misconstrued and 162 more...
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Turning and Twisting Tours
words in the nature of double spirals
swift, swerve, swirl, swivel, swarm, swag, swank, swoop, swinge, swarf, spire, esparto and 361 more...
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crimes
nicks
sedition, espionage, mutiny, duress, contempt, corruption, asylum, rendition, extradition, controversy, deceit, intercept and 19 more...
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MEC3 Lesson 137
bound, Stalingrad, aboard, spaceship, unavoidable, poorly, recognizable, feature, famished, South Korea, stomach, enthusiast and 26 more...
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pronounced controversy
There is a lot of controversy over the pronunciation of the word controversy.
Nothing to do with regional accent.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for controversy.
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