Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views.
- noun The act or practice of engaging in such disputes.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Disputation; debate; agitation of contrary opinions; a formal or prolonged debate; dispute.
- noun 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.
- noun A matter in dispute; a question to settle.
- noun Antagonism; resistance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Contention; dispute; debate; discussion; agitation of contrary opinions.
- noun Quarrel; strife; cause of variance; difference.
- noun obsolete A suit in law or equity; a question of right.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
debate ,discussion ofopposing opinions;strife .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word controversy.
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."
PhillyDeals 2011
-
But Sanders said the controversy is a misunderstanding.
-
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 2009
-
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.
-
Wow, seeing the developer here talking about the game and the controversy is a real treat.
-
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 2009
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.