controversial

controversial
   1. politically damaging
   Bureaucratic jargon of a policy which may offend populist susceptibilities:
    'Controversial' only means 'this will lose you votes'. 'Courageous' means 'this will lose you the election.' (Lynn and Jay, 1981)
   2. disreputable and untrustworthy
   Journalistic jargon, especially of businessmen:
    ... [the] moving spirit of the now defunct stockbroker is working on a diamond company float on the Moscow stock exchange [and is] now sharing a Knightsbridge office with the controversial financier ' {Sunday Telegraph, 17 December 1994)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • Controversial — Con tro*ver sial, a. [Cf. LL. controversialis.] Relating to, or consisting of, controversy; disputatious; polemical; as, controversial divinity. [1913 Webster] Whole libraries of controversial books. Macaulay. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • controversial — adj. De la controversia. ⊚ Que la provoca o la busca. * * * controversial. adj. Am. controvertido …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • controversial — I adjective arguable, at issue, at odds, at variance, confutable, contestable, controversus, controvertible, debatable, dialectic, disputable, doubtful, dubious, dubitable, eristic, exhibiting pros and cons, factious, in dispute, in question, not …   Law dictionary

  • controversial — (adj.) 1580s, from L.L. controversialis pertaining to controversy, from L. controversia (see CONTROVERSY (Cf. controversy)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • controversial — [adj] at issue arguable, argumentative, contended, contentious, contestable, controvertible, debateable, disputable, disputatious, disputed, doubtable, doubtful, dubious, dubitable, in dispute, litigious, moot, open to discussion*, open to… …   New thesaurus

  • controversial — adj. Am. controvertido …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • controversial — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ causing or likely to cause controversy. DERIVATIVES controversialist noun controversially adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • controversial — [kän΄trə vʉr′shəl, kän΄trə vʉr′sē əl] adj. [LL controversialis] 1. of, subject to, or stirring up controversy; debatable 2. Rare liking to take part in controversy; disputatious controversially adv …   English World dictionary

  • controversial — 01. You shouldn t talk about [controversial] topics with people you don t know very well because it might start an argument. 02. The government s decision to subsidize professional hockey teams resulted in a great deal of [controversy], and… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • controversial — adjective causing a lot of disagreement, because many people have strong opinions about the subject being discussed: Contraception is still a controversial issue in this part of the world. | a controversial plan/decision etc: a highly… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • controversial — con|tro|ver|sial [ˌkɔntrəˈvə:ʃəl US ˌka:ntrəˈvə:r ] adj causing a lot of disagreement, because many people have strong opinions about the subject being discussed ▪ the controversial issue of welfare reform ▪ a highly controversial (=very… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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