Contentious

contentious
    adj 1: inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or
           disagree, even to engage in law suits; "a style described
           as abrasive and contentious"; "a disputatious lawyer"; "a
           litigious and acrimonious spirit" [syn: {contentious},
           {combative}, {disputatious}, {disputative}, {litigious}]
    2: involving or likely to cause controversy; "a central and
       contentious element of the book"- Tim W.Ferfuson
    

Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F.
   contentieux.]
   1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking
      dispute or contention; quarrelsome.
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            Despotic and contentious temper.      --Macaulay.
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   2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or
      characterized by contention. --Spenser.
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            More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions.
                                                  --Brougham.
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   3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to
      decide controversy.
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   {Contentious jurisdiction} (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction
      over matters in controversy between parties, in
      contradistinction to {voluntary jurisdiction}, or that
      exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.

   Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling;
        litigious; perverse; peevish. -- {Con*ten"tious*ly},
        adv. -- {Con*ten"tious*ness}, n.
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67 Moby Thesaurus words for "contentious":
      aggravating, aggravative, aggressive, annoying, antagonistic,
      argumental, argumentative, battling, bellicose, belligerent,
      bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, cat-and-dog, cat-and-doggish,
      chauvinist, chauvinistic, combative, controversial, dialectic,
      disputatious, enemy, eristic, exasperating, exasperative,
      ferocious, fierce, fighting, full of fight, hawkish, hostile,
      ill-humored, inimical, irritating, jingo, jingoish, jingoist,
      jingoistic, litigious, logomachic, martial, militant, militaristic,
      military, offensive, pilpulistic, polemic, pro and con,
      provocative, pugnacious, quarrelsome, saber-rattling, sanguinary,
      sanguineous, savage, scrappy, soldierlike, soldierly,
      trigger-happy, truculent, unfriendly, unpacific, unpeaceable,
      unpeaceful, warlike, warmongering, warring