controversy
noun
Simple meaning
A debate or discussion of opposing opinions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kontruhvurseeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑːntrəvɝːsi
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.
Used this way, controversy is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Marked by or capable of arousing controversy.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: debate or discussion of opposing opinions
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.