disputation
noun
dis·pu·ta·tion
ˌdi-spyə-ˈtā-shən 
1
: the action of disputing : verbal controversy
continuous disputation between them
ideological disputations
2
: an academic exercise in oral defense of a thesis by formal logic
Examples of disputation in a Sentence
years of debate and disputation
a heated disputation over the true authorship of the poem popularly known as “The Night Before Christmas”
Recent Examples on the Web
According to him, advances in machine learning have yanked questions once trapped inside theological/philosophical disputations into corporate board packs.
—
Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2025
Jake is a single father who has brought Kristen up in the severe Calvinist tradition, marked by Bible disputations of Talmudic intricacy and by a radical detachment from secular and popular culture.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023
Seven decades later, this culture of disputation emerged as a central theme in Timothy Garton Ash’s The Magic Lantern, his eyewitness report on the Eastern European revolutions of 1989.
—Susie Linfield, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022
By taking steps to remember that politics always involves disputation, even among those who vote for the same candidates and affiliate with the same party, Americans may begin to rediscover the ability to respectfully disagree with opponents.
—Robert B. Talisse, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2022
See All Example Sentences for disputation
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Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2025
Jake is a single father who has brought Kristen up in the severe Calvinist tradition, marked by Bible disputations of Talmudic intricacy and by a radical detachment from secular and popular culture.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023
Seven decades later, this culture of disputation emerged as a central theme in Timothy Garton Ash’s The Magic Lantern, his eyewitness report on the Eastern European revolutions of 1989.
—Susie Linfield, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022
By taking steps to remember that politics always involves disputation, even among those who vote for the same candidates and affiliate with the same party, Americans may begin to rediscover the ability to respectfully disagree with opponents.
—Robert B. Talisse, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2022
See All Example Sentences for disputation
Cite this Entry
“Disputation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disputation. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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disputation
noun
dis·pu·ta·tion
ˌdis-pyə-ˈtā-shən
: the act of disputing : debate
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