litigious

adjective

li·​ti·​gious lə-ˈti-jəs 

li-

1

a

: disputatious, contentious

in a litigious mood

b

: prone to engage in lawsuits

an increasingly litigious society

2

: subject to litigation

not known to be litigious when purchased

—James Muirhead

3

: of, relating to, or marked by litigation

a litigious situation

litigiously adverb

litigiousness noun

Examples of litigious in a Sentence

a very litigious group of people

this litigious age in which we live

Recent Examples on the Web

The series’s portrait of John, now a remarried grandfather, bears no trace of the litigious figure who hired Trump attorney L. Lin Wood early on to sue media outlets for libel. —Alessa Dominguez, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024

The company offered to brand customers, too, in exchange for a year's-worth of free food. Co-founder Steve Salis moved on to acquire Ted's Bulletin, Kramer's and launch a real estate company (with some litigious results). —Anna Spiegel, Axios, 22 Oct. 2024

Meanwhile, Kennedy’s sexting scandal with Nuzzi has become even more complicated and messy because of her bitter and litigious breakup from Lizza. —Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2024

Yet the film struggled to find a U.S. distributor willing to back it during production; Trump is a polarizing figure, after all, and famously litigious. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin litigiosus, from litigium dispute, from litigare

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Legal Definition

litigious

adjective

li·​ti·​gious li-ˈti-jəs 

1

: prone to engage in lawsuits or legal maneuvers especially to an excessive degree

a litigious pro se prisoner … filed fifty-one cases

—In re Oliver, 682 F.2d 443 (1982)

2

: subject to litigation

acquired only a possible litigious claim

—Wells v. Joseph, 95 So. 2d 843 (1957)

3

: of, relating to, or marked by litigation

litigiously adverb

litigiousness noun