contested

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of contest.

   The two teams contested the title until the final whistle.

   The election was hotly contested in nearly every district.

   Note

   One spelling covers both the simple past (they contested the result) and the participle after have or be (the result has been contested, the seat was contested). Passives come from the transitive uses: calling something into question, struggling to defend it, or disputing a claim in court. The intransitive "contend" use takes no passive, so it appears only as a plain past: they contested for the prize.

2. 2
   adjective

   Argued over or disputed, with people strongly disagreeing about whether it is right, true, or fair.

   The contested border has been a source of tension between the two nations for decades.

   Her appointment proved deeply contested among the committee members.

   Similardisputed, controversial, debated, contentious, challenged

   Oppositeuncontested, undisputed, accepted, unchallenged

   Note

   Grown from the past participle of contest, this adjective is fully gradable: something can be more contested, most contested or deeply contested, which a plain participle rarely allows. Degree is the easiest test for telling it apart from the verb form. The contested border names a lasting state of dispute, while the border was contested by both armies reports an action.

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