as in disputed
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1
as in pondered
to give serious and careful thought to
still debating what to do
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discussed
to talk about (an issue) usually from various points of view and for the purpose of arriving at a decision or opinion
we debated the advantages versus the disadvantages of the proposed waterfront development
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of debated
Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
Seclusion and restraint The use of restraint and seclusion practices to address disabled students’ behavioral issues has increasingly become a debated issue among education specialists.
—IndyStar, 8 Sep. 2025
This secular trend is welcome, but its causes remain debated.
—Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2025
Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
Regardless of political party or ideology, Americans have the right to witness important issues like crime and drugs debated in an open and fair forum.
—Richard Cherwitz, Sun Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2026
Separating the art from the artist can be easier debated than done.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
Other states have debated the constitutionality of these restrictions, Bohacek said, but those issues have been resolved.
—Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 4 Jan. 2026
That deal was evidently set aside as various members of the Administration debated how to proceed.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2026
In their classic, hilarious back-and-forth on the annual NYE special, Cohen and Cooper debated who would play Ilya and who would play Shane on the LGBTQ+ sports romance series.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 1 Jan. 2026
Though many have debated the impending burst of the influencer bubble, experts say that celebrities and public figures still have influence in consumer decisions.
—Audrey Noble, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2025
The quarterback question will be one heavily debated in Miami Dolphins circles for the entire offseason.
—Miami Herald, 30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
Dogs are believed to descend from ancient gray wolves, though the exact wolf populations that gave rise to them remain debated.
—Verb
The airstrikes were not authorized by Congress, and their legality has been debated.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for debated
Adjective
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Tanzania is one of several African countries to hold disputed elections this year that have resulted in unrest.—
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In disputed territories, the drone’s ability to deliver real-time monitoring and rapid response capabilities could give operators a significant tactical advantage, reinforcing control over contested zones, the South China Morning Post writes.—
Verb
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Advertisement China has long pondered surgical strikes against Taiwan’s leadership, though any such move is likely to be self-defeating, given the island is a sustained democracy.—
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Early in their planning for the trip to Alaska, the couple pondered taking a cruise.—
Verb
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Thursday’s report is not the first time the possibility of Trump pardoning Combs has been publicly discussed.—
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This tension was on display in Paris this week, when representatives from 35 countries, including the US, discussed how to guarantee Ukraine’s post-war security in the event of a peace deal with Russia.—
Adjective
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This loss had to be especially tough for the Jayhawks, considering a controversial holding call on KU changed the momentum of the game.—
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Watson’s combination of scientific achievement and controversial remarks created a complicated legacy.—
Verb
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Hadn’t really contemplated it — was doing a bunch of other things.—
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To that point, the settlement attempts to correct an economic harm and cannot address possible harms that are contemplated by other areas of law.—
Verb
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But the department has argued the sheer volume of documents that need to be found, uploaded, reviewed, redacted and published has forced it to instead release the files online on a rolling basis, with a series of enormous document dumps over the course of several days in mid-December.—
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Skelton argued that the city’s code lays out a specific process for declaring an animal as dangerous, which often entails a day in municipal court.—
Verb
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Julann Carney, a Realtor and property manager in Sherwood, said the plans for the money raised by the bonds are ill considered and add too much to the bills of residents.—
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When Laughton was elected as a state representative in 2012, she was considered to be the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature.—
Verb
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Having designed dozens of homes and studied many more, interior designers become accustomed to spotting some of the same home accessories over and over again.—
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Medieval Europeans moved to England consistently A press release by the University of Cambridge continued that researchers studied more than 700 chemical signatures from the teeth of people buried in England between AD 400 and 1100.—
Cite this Entry
“Debated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debated. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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