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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, adjective [L. contentiosus: cf. F. contentieux.]
1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking dispute or contention; quarrelsome.
Despotic and contentious temper. --Macaulay.
2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or characterized by contention. --Spenser.
More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions. --Brougham.
3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to decide controversy.
{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}, adverb -- {Con*ten"tious*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
contentious
adjective
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: {disputatious}, {disputative}, {litigious}]
2: involving or likely to cause controversy; "a central and contentious element of the book"- Tim W.Ferfuson
3: having or showing a ready disposition to fight; "bellicose young officers"; "a combative impulse"; "a contentious nature" [syn: {battleful}, {bellicose}, {combative}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
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
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