Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Contentious

Con·ten′tious, a. [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, adv. — Con·ten′tious·ness, n.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article.