Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Contentious

Contentious , adjective

[Latin contentiosus: compare French 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.
Collocations (1)
Contentious jurisdiction (Eng. Ecclesiastical Law) , jurisdiction over matters in controversy between parties, in contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, or that exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.