disputatious

From disputation, equivalent to disputati(on) +‎ -ous.

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɪspjʊˈteɪʃəs/, /ˌdɪspjəˈteɪʃəs/

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disputatious (comparative more disputatious, superlative most disputatious)

1. Of or relating to something that is in question as to its intent or value.
2. Inclined to argue or debate; provoking debate.

   Synonyms: argumentative, contentious, quarrelsome; see also Thesaurus:quarrelsome

   Antonyms: conciliatory, pacific, peaceable

   • 1864, “Visit of King James to Oxford in 1605: Tobacologia: Date of ‘Macbeth’”, in Notes and Queries, page 301:

     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."

   • 1868 October 20, John Lothrop Motley, Four Questions for the People, at the Presidential Election: Address of John Lothrop Motley, before the Parker Fraternity, at the Music Hall, October 20, 1868, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 4:

     Certainly there have been bitterly contested elections in this country before. Party spirit is always rife, and in such vivid, excitable, disputatious communities as ours are, and I trust always will be, it is the very soul of freedom.