tendentious

[ ten-den-shuhs ]

adjective

1. having or showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose:

   a tendentious novel.

tendentious

/ tɛnˈdɛnʃəs /

adjective

1. having or showing an intentional tendency or bias, esp a controversial one

Derived Forms

• tenˈdentiously, adverb
• tenˈdentiousness, noun

Other Words From

• ten·dentious·ly adverb
• ten·dentious·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tendentious¹

1895–1900; < Medieval Latin tendenti ( a ) tendency + -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of tendentious¹

C20: from tendency

Example Sentences

Describing that as humane, as the Administration has, is “tendentious,” Krikorian says.

From Time

Petrovsky says he had to work at stopping some tendentious reporters from distorting his paper’s findings to shape a narrative that SARS-CoV-2 had unequivocally been manufactured.

From MIT Technology Review

Oh, at this distance almost any answer is likely to be tendentious.

From The Daily Beast

Munayyer is not un-informed, but his article is tendentious.

From The Daily Beast

Again and again, they delivered bloviating, tendentious monologues and then cut Hagel off when he tried to reply.

From The Daily Beast

Bereft of serious arguments, anti-Obama types resort to tendentious claims about symbolic slights.

From The Daily Beast

"Somewhat misleading and tendentious," the New York Times executive editor, Bill Keller, said about the study.

From The Daily Beast

The position in Ethiopia is, to say the least of it, tendentious, and at any moment the natives may change their skin.

From Project Gutenberg

Calling it by a certain name-media-ocracy-is probably tendentious.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• prejudicial