Disputatious
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Of or relating to something that is in question as to its intent or value.
- 2 Inclined to argue or debate; provoking debate.
"He was followed by a disputatious gentleman, who had the temerity to maintain before the royal misocapnist (the Counterblast had not as yet issued from the monarch's lips, but his anti-nicotian prejudices were well known,) the thesis, that "tobacco must needs be good;" proceeding to his proof "by enumeration or induction, because Kings, Princes, Nobles, Earles, Lords, Knights, Gentlemen of all Countries and Nations, reckoning a number, loved it.""
- 1 inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits wordnet
Example
More examples"He was followed by a disputatious gentleman, who had the temerity to maintain before the royal misocapnist (the Counterblast had not as yet issued from the monarch's lips, but his anti-nicotian prejudices were well known,) the thesis, that "tobacco must needs be good;" proceeding to his proof "by enumeration or induction, because Kings, Princes, Nobles, Earles, Lords, Knights, Gentlemen of all Countries and Nations, reckoning a number, loved it.""
Etymology
From disputation, equivalent to disputati(on) + -ous.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.