contentious
adjective
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If everyone has a bone to pick now and then, contentious types have entire skeletons. While English has plenty of words for people prone to fighting—combative and belligerent among them—contentious implies a fondness for arguing that others find particularly tedious or wearying. Thankfully, even the most contentious cranks and crabs among us have no cause to quibble over the history of the word contentious, as its origins are very clear: contentious comes (by way of Middle French) from the Latin adjective contentiōsus, meaning “persistent, obstinate, argumentative, or quarrelsome.”
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“Contentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contentious. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.
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