controversy.

Strong or prolonged disagreement about an issue, often involving public debate.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• political controversy
• generate controversy

On the page

The findings generated controversy beyond the research community.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Countable or uncountable by context; countable singular controversy; plural controversies. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.