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altercation

UK/ˌɔːltəˈkeɪʃn̩/US/ˌɔltɚˈkeɪʃən/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,406 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: altercations

An altercation is a noisy quarrel. A heated altercation, an altercation broke out, involved in an altercation.

It is the formal and slightly euphemistic word police and newspapers use, and it is doing careful work: an altercation may or may not have become violent, and the word declines to say. In speech people say row or argument.

Definitions of altercation

  1. 1nounaltercationA noisy quarrel.C1

    “The two drivers got into a loud altercation after their cars touched at the lights.”

altercation is a quarrel.

Where it comes from

Latin altercatio comes from altercari, to dispute, from alter, the other — a speaking back and forth.

  1. Latin

    altercātiō

  2. English, today

    altercation

Borrowed from Latin altercātiō. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

altercation in the wild

  • Davidson claimed this was due to an altercation between himself and Executive Producer and show creator, Julia Smith.

    Andy O'Brien (EastEnders)

  • On September 9, 2006, his arm was broken in an altercation with security at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

    Valery Ponomarev

  • The altercation involved his intention of carrying his trumpet with him onto the plane.

    Valery Ponomarev

  • All ten players on the floor at the time were ejected after the altercation was finished.

    Knicks–Nuggets brawl

  • The Double Seven Day Scuffle was a physical altercation on 7 July 1963, in Saigon, South Vietnam.

    Double Seven Day scuffle

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.