Words / C2

ten-DENSH-uh-s/tenˈdenʃəs/

Tendentious means pushing a cause instead of being even-handed (formal): a tendentious summary, tendentious minutes. Biased is everyday; partisan is a close cousin. Contentious (see contention in C1) means likely to cause argument, not necessarily one-sided. Tendency is a leaning — related root, milder. Do not call a balanced literature review tendentious.

Meaning

Written or spoken to promote a cause, not to be even-handed (formal).

Examples

• “The minutes read as tendentious rather than as a record.”
• “The press note was tendentious: it quoted one critic and three allies.”
• “A contentious clause causes rows; a tendentious one already picked a side.”

Good to know

Partisan; not even-handed (formal). Everyday: biased. Mix-up: contentious (quarrel-prone). Noun root: tendency (milder).

Near in meaning

partisan

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