semicontroversial

English

Etymology

semi- +‎ controversial

Adjective

semicontroversial (not comparable)

1. Causing some controversy, but not enough to be considered controversial.

   Synonym: quasicontroversial

   • 2005 October 13, Kelefa Sanneh, “Cracking the Code in Hip-Hop”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Never mind the semicontroversial "Stop Snitching" T-shirts, where the threatening command not to talk to the police is inscribed within a red octagon.

   • 2015 January 26, Michael Barbaro, “A Radio Host’s Strategy for Christie: Let Him Rant”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     He thinks like a politician, and he thinks like a lawyer. So the governor in particular is very careful about parsing his words, especially if we’re talking about a political issue that’s being negotiated in the Legislature, talking about things connected to Bridgegate, things that are semicontroversial.