controversial

English

Etymology

From Latin controversia (“controversy”) + -al; see controversy.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɑːn.trə.ˈvɚ.ʃəl/, /kɑːn.trə.ˈvɚ.si.əl/

Adjective

controversial (comparative more controversial, superlative most controversial)

1. Arousing controversy—a debate or discussion of opposing opinions.

Usage notes

• Nouns often used with "controversial": topic, subject, work, author, method, etc.

Antonyms

• uncontroversial
• noncontroversial

Derived terms

• controversialness

Related terms

• controversialist
• controversiality
• controversy
• controvert
• controverter
• controvertible

Translations

arousing controversy

Bulgarian: спорен (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: 有爭議的, 有争议的 (yǒu zhēngyì de) Croatian: kontrovèrzan (hr) Danish: kontroversiel, omstridt Dutch: omstreden (nl) Estonian: vastuoluline (et) Finnish: kiistelty, kiistanalainen French: controversé (fr), polémique (fr) m. and f. German: umstritten (de), kontrovers (de) Greek: αμφιλεγόμενος (el) (amfilegomenos) Hebrew: שנוי במחלוקת (shanui be'makhloqet) m., שנויה במחלוקת (shnuia be'makhloqet) f.

Hungarian: vitás (hu), vitatott (hu), nagy port kavaró (hu) Icelandic: umdeildur (is) Norwegian: kontroversiell (no) Polish: kontrowersyjny (pl) m., kontrowersyjna (pl) f., kontrowersyjne (pl) n. Portuguese: polémico (pt) Romanian: controversabil (ro) m. and n., controversat (ro) m. and n., discutabil (ro) m. and n., polemizat (ro) m. and n. Russian: спорный (ru) Scottish Gaelic: connsachail (gd), connspaideach (gd) Spanish: controversial (es), controvertido (es) Swedish: kontroversiell (sv) Turkish: tartışmalı (tr), ihtilaflı (tr), çelişmeli (tr)

See also

• disputatious
• polemical
• disputable
• controvertible
• debatable

External links

• controversial in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• controversial in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911