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uncontentious

uncontentious

1 6.5
Calm and unlikely to cause arguments
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌn.kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/
: no conflictivo
  • It is precisely the uncontentious nature of the application of moral standards in cases where there is a clear wrong committed by the agent that makes such cases not examples of moralism, and thus unobjectionable.

Examples

  • The committee focused on uncontentious matters, avoiding any topics that might spark disagreement.

  • The entire idea that you can define "best" in some uncontentious way will only occur to you if you assume that you have quite a lot of common ground with your interlocutor, such that the two of you will generally agree about what is best.

    Blog text (23)
  • With "the little strength left to me," he was turning to uncontentious subjects.

    Academic text (1999)
  • By doing so, they took a non partisan, uncontentious topic and transformed it into a hot button political issue.

  • I mean, I think this the what I'm going to say, I think is fairly would be fairly uncontentious among philosophers who subscribe to naturalism.

  • One of the conventions of writing about postmodernism is to acknowledge (or boast?) that nothing about the subject is certain, resolved, or uncontentious.

    Academic text (2016)
  • During the meeting, they discussed uncontentious issues like the new office policies.

  • The professor chose a calm and uncontentious topic for her lecture, ensuring a peaceful discussion.

Synonyms

mild-mannered
vsuncontentious
21 3.4

A person who is gentle, calm, and not aggressive

is about not stirring disputes rather than only having a mild style
peaceable
vsuncontentious
7 4.1

Calm and not wanting to fight or argue

stresses not provoking arguments specifically, not just general peacefulness
untroubled
vsuncontentious
5 3.5

Calm and not worried about problems

focuses on unlikely to cause disagreements rather than personal lack of worry
nonconfrontational
vsuncontentious
1 5.8

Avoids arguments and direct conflict with other people

is about not causing disagreement rather than only avoiding direct fights
equable
vsuncontentious
1 7.3

A calm person who does not get angry or upset easily

adds the idea of not causing arguments through agreeableness, not just temper
complaisant
vsuncontentious
  • Formal
1 8.3

Willing to please other people by being polite and doing what they ask

is about avoiding controversy by being calm and agreeable, not pleading
unaggressive
vsuncontentious
1 3.9

Not likely to fight or act forcefully towards others

focuses on avoiding controversy through agreeableness rather than lack of force
unassertive
vsuncontentious
1 6.2

Not confident about saying what you think or want

is about being unlikely to cause arguments rather than simply timid speech
equanimous
vsuncontentious
  • Formal
1 9.5

Calm and steady in difficult situations

is more about avoiding controversy and being agreeable than crisis composure
noncontentious
vsuncontentious
1 6.7

Not likely to argue or cause disagreement

is the same meaning presented with un prefix rather than non prefix
unargumentative
vsuncontentious
1 6.4

Not ready to disagree or fight with others

focuses on not causing arguments rather than only avoiding argument itself
conflictless
vsuncontentious
6.3

Free from argument or disagreement

describes a tendency not to cause controversy rather than an existing state

Antonyms

73 7.4

Causing people to disagree or argue

How Contentious

controversial
490 5.0
uncontentious
1 6.5

Surface Forms

uncontentious positive

Morphology

uncontentious = contentious (transparent) = un + contentious

Formed by the productive negative prefix 'un-' added to 'contentious'; the negative meaning is directly predictable from the base.

Etymology

Uncontentious begins with un- meaning 'not' and the main part contentious comes from a root meaning 'to argue', the same root you see in contest and contend. So uncontentious means 'not likely to argue', used for people or things that are calm and agreeable.