Meaning & use
dissension
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Meaning
noununcountable
Strong disagreement within a group that causes conflict or division.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: 'cause dissension', 'a lot of dissension'. The misspelling 'dissention' is not standard.
Patterns
- cause dissension
- dissension among someone
- dissension within something
The new policy caused dissension among the staff.
There was growing dissension within the party over the leadership.
Her remarks sowed dissension between the two departments.
Common combinations
- cause dissension
- The proposed change caused dissension among the members.
- sow dissension
- He was accused of sowing dissension in the team.
- dissension among
- There was dissension among the ranks over the new rules.
- internal dissension
- Internal dissension weakened the organization.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disagreement
- Disagreement is a general word for having different opinions; dissension is stronger and suggests conflict that divides a group.
- discord
- Discord means lack of harmony and often implies unpleasant conflict; dissension specifically refers to disagreement within a group.
- strife
- Strife is a stronger, more literary word for bitter conflict; dissension is more common in news and business contexts.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dissension or dissention? dissension or dimension?
dissension vs dissention
This is a common misspelling. The correct spelling is 'dissension' with no 't' after 'dissen-'.
dissension vs dimension
Dimension means a measurement or aspect of something. Dissension means disagreement and conflict within a group.
Practice
The new rules caused ______ among the employees, with many refusing to cooperate.
Choose one answer.
Dissension is the correct spelling for disagreement that causes conflict. 'Dissention' is a common misspelling; 'dimension' means a measurement; 'dissection' means cutting something apart.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dissension”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.