What does "disputation" mean?

The act of disputing; a dispute or argument.

What is a synonym for "disputation"?

Common synonyms include: dissonance, altercation, altercation, apologetics, apologia, apology.

noun

noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The act of disputing; a dispute or argument. countable, uncountable
"And like the battles fought over baptism by sprinkling as opposed to total immersion, these modern-day disputations can be tedious."
2
a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement wordnet
3
A rhetorical exercise in which parties reason in opposition to each other over a belief or proposition. countable, uncountable
4
the formal presentation of a stated proposition and the opposition to it (usually followed by a vote) wordnet

"And like the battles fought over baptism by sprinkling as opposed to total immersion, these modern-day disputations can be tedious."

English dispute + -ation, from Old French disputation, from Latin disputatio.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.