contradictory
English · Thesaurus
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contradictory
- /ˌkɒntɹəˈdɪkt(ə)ɹi/ UK
- /ˌkɑntɹəˈdɪktəɹi/ US, dialectal
- /ˌkɒntɹəˈdɪkt(ə)ɹi/ Canada, dialectal
- /ˌkɔntɹəˈdɪkt(ə)ɹi/ Australia
- /ˌkɒntɹəˈdəkt(ə)ɹi/ New Zealand
- [ˌkɔ̟ntɹəˈdəkt(ə)ɹi] New Zealand
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Late Latin contradictorius, from Latin contradico. Equivalent to contradict + -ory.
adjective more contradictory · most contradictory
- That contradicts something, such as an argument. This wide variety of genuinely contradictory holy sutras generated a serious problem in later Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. In the early period the Chinese and Japanese did not know that there were so many schools of Buddhism which disagreed with one another. Chinese and Japanese Buddhists assumed
- That is itself a contradiction. Our attitudes toward sharks are contradictory. We fear them and yet we seek them out.
- That is diametrically opposed to something. Schemes […] contradictory to common sense.
-
Mutually exclusive.
[White House deputy chief of policy Stephen] Miller has offered contradictory versions of Trump administration statements and court rulings.
Similar: incompatible
- Tending to contradict or oppose, contrarious.
Similar: opposite
noun contradictories
- Either of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false. If one proposition is the negation of another, it follows trivially from the definition that the two propositions are contradictories. The converse does not hold. Two propositions can be contradictories without either being the negation of the other. For example: 3) John is more than six feet tall
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: antonymous, self-contradictory, conflicting, inconsistent, incompatible, confounding, unsupportive, mutually exclusive, at odds, contradiction, contrary, paradoxical, contradict, opposing, contradicted, opposed
adjective
Similar: opposite
Translations
Every language
adj that contradicts something
| Español | contradictorio |
|---|---|
| Português | contraditório |
| Français | contradictoire |
| Deutsch | widersprüchlich |
| Italiano | contraddittorio |
| Ελληνικά | αντιφατικός antifatikós |
| Română | contradictoriu, contrar |
| Русский | противоре́чащий protivoréčaščij |
| العربية | نَقِيض naqīḍ |
adj that is itself a contradiction
| 中文 | 自相矛盾 zìxiāngmáodùn |
|---|---|
| Português | contraditório |
| Français | contradictoire |
| Italiano | contrario, incoerente |
| Ελληνικά | αντιφατικός antifatikós |
| Română | contradictoriu |
| Русский | противоречи́вый protivorečívyj |
| العربية | تَنَاقُضِيّ tanāquḍiyy |
adj that is diametrically opposed to something
| Português | contrário |
|---|---|
| Русский | противополо́жный protivopolóžnyj |
adj mutually exclusive
| Русский | несовмести́мый nesovmestímyj |
|---|
adj tending to contradict, contrarious
| Русский | противоречи́вый protivorečívyj, противоре́чащий protivoréčaščij |
|---|
noun any of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false
| Română | contradicție, contrazicere |
|---|---|
| العربية | نَقِيض naqīḍ |
Talk about this word "contradictory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/contradictory. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. contradictory. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/contradictory "contradictory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/contradictory.Cite this
@misc{contradictory_2026,
title = {contradictory},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/contradictory},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
