DISPUTED Synonyms: 158 Similar and Opposite Words

disputed 1 of 2

adjective

as in controversial

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disputed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of dispute

as in questioned

to demand proof of the truth or rightness of a whole slew of relatives eager to dispute his claim to being the sole heir

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as in bickered

to express different opinions about something often angrily hometown fans disputing with visiting fans over which had the better team

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in debated

to talk about (an issue) usually from various points of view and for the purpose of arriving at a decision or opinion in an extended session the city council disputed the need for a new high school

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of disputed

Adjective

Election officials can use the timing marks and barcodes printed around ballots to identify the different ballot styles and determine which ballots contain the disputed 7A question. — Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026 The protests follow a disputed election and government crackdown that drove Machado and other opposition leaders into hiding. — Clyburn Saint John, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026 In one of the latest incidents, the Philippine military in July accused China's coast guard of injuring a Filipino sailor at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026 Completion targets remain disputed Project chief engineer Xi Jihong said the railway could be ready for operations by June 2031. — Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026 Seven more calls were successfully challenged before the final out, with only two of the eight disputed pitches initially ruled strikes. — Chantz Martin Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026 The enlistment card said Weber was from Alsace-Lorraine, a disputed area between France and Germany, which may explain the two spellings of his surname. — Frank Witsil, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2026 Ask whether the methodology is published in enough detail to reproduce, and who arbitrates a disputed grade. — Janakiram Msv, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026 The investigation began nearly two months after Sessions supplemented his disputed testimony and was initially based on a letter from two Democratic senators. — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2026

Verb

No agents died in the real-life incident, and whether Good’s car ever posed a threat to her killer, Jonathan Ross, remains widely disputed. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2026 Guilfoyle's team publicly disputed the authenticity of text messages Deters shared with multiple news outlets, including CBS News. — Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026 But the head of Gaza’s private truckers union, Nahed Sheheiber, disputed the account, saying the Israelis were the ones who had made the decision. — Sam Metz, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 But no one at the FBI or anywhere else has disputed the DOJ data showing FBI criminal referrals down 15%. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026 Binnall also disputed the authenticity of messages from Guilfoyle reported in the article, but declined to provide specifics, according to the Journal. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2026 The agency has previously disputed suggestions that politics plays a role in its decisions. — Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 9 Oct. 2026 Initial media reports suggested a lab worker at Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute died of the plague, but Russian officials later disputed this, saying the worker died of pneumonia and that the illness was not linked to work in the lab. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026 While two people with knowledge of the matter told Semafor that career FTC staff learned from the press — not agency leadership — about the AI investigation, the senior official disputed that. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disputed

Adjective

This is not a sudden shift in attitude to defend a controversial CBA.

— Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Meta backlash is global Criticism goes beyond Nieman Lab’s reporting, as news groups globally urge regulators to intervene and block Meta’s controversial terms from kicking in.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of controversial

Verb

But on Monday, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan likened many of the investors drawn to the AI boom to gamblers and questioned the economics of AI labs as Wall Street debates whether the AI bubble will burst.

— Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
The child's mother was taken into custody at the hospital and is being questioned by police, according to the NYPD.

— Naveen Dhaliwal, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of questioned

Verb

The two of them together, just 17 months apart, shared playlists, bickered over where to stop during Apple CarPlay calls, pulled up beside me and faded away with silly faces, encapsulating 20 years of my life in my rearview mirror.

— Robert Duffer, AJC.com, 2 Oct. 2026
King bickered with fans on social media.

— Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026

Definition of bickered

Verb

The candidates for county judge debated the county’s most pressing issues, including budget management, flood control and jail diversion.

— Katie Bartlett, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Oct. 2026
That question remains heavily debated (and underfunded), an issue covered in a recent Times story by writer Stuart Miller.

— Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of debated

Adjective

New research, ancient myth All of the results from the most recent research project are, at the moment, still preliminary and inconclusive.

— Eric Vanden Eykel, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026
Plus, testing can cause anxiety and stress — as patients wait for results and if the results are inconclusive.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of inconclusive

Verb

Ventura County prosecutors successfully challenged that decision, and Luster was denied parole again in April 2025.

— Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Gaiser’s office could also get asked to provide legal advice if outcomes are challenged during and after next month’s midterms.

— Perry Stein, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of challenged

Verb

When people have little relief from stress in a chaotic environment, their brains have difficulty coping with the ongoing prediction errors, Friston, McEwen and neuroscientist Achim Peters argued in a 2017 article.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Consumer advocates have argued that digital labels could eventually be used for surge pricing or personalized pricing.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of argued

Verb

The three-week trial included hours of video evidence and testimony from multiple witnesses and experts, including a medical examiner who discussed the injuries that killed the three firefighters.

— Adam Thompson, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026
In 2024, there wasn’t a single election ad on broadcast TV that mentioned data centers, according to tracking from the firm AdImpact, and in most of 2025, only a handful discussed them, largely in down-ballot state races.

— Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of discussed

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“Disputed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disputed. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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adjective

verb

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