{
    "term": "controversial",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "academic": true,
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "causing a lot of angry public discussion and disagreement",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a **highly controversial** topic"
                },
                {
                    "text": "one of the most controversial of London’s new office blocks"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A controversial plan to build a new road has met with protests."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon were both controversial figures."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a highly controversial subject"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her controversial new play sparked a riot outside the theatre."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It is one of the most controversial of London's new office buildings."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Opinion and argument", "Feelings"],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "prove", "become"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌkɒntrəˈvɜːʃl/",
                "audio": "xc/controversial/xcontroversial__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌkɑːntrəˈvɜːrʃl/",
                "audio": "xc/controversial/xcontroversial__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late 16th cent.: from late Latin controversialis, from controversia, from controversus ‘turned against, disputed’, from contro- (variant of contra- ‘against’) + versus, past participle of vertere ‘to turn’."
}