as in debate
variance of opinion on a matter
a democracy relies on dissensus as much as on consensus
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Recent Examples of dissensus
These dramas of politics — each involving the high court’s first black justice — arrive at a singularly contentious political moment in an atmosphere of angry, sometimes violent dissensus.
—
Manohla Dargis and A.o. Scott, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2017
Manohla Dargis and A.o. Scott, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissensus
Noun
-
Building and construction unions no longer can use their old rhetorical cudgel in this debate — calling prefab homes flimsy and unsafe.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Rothman’s tenure has been marked by his efforts to increase state funding amid federal cuts, debates over free speech on campus amid pro-Palestinian protests, and declining enrollment leading to eight branch campus closures.—
Scott Bauer,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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The high-profile dispute has, over the past year and a half, ensnared several other celebrities in Lively and Baldoni's orbit as the discovery process in their case exposed the stars' private communications.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
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Owens had expressed frustrations to her mother about an ongoing dispute with her neighbor Susan Lorincz that dated back to February 2022.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Fundraising for the project through private donations also drew controversy.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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The controversy surrounding the North Natomas micro-community comes amid a heated re-election campaign for Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents the area.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But there are issues and there are disagreements and there are hurt feelings.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Yes, but major disagreements remained.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissensus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissensus. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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