contrary

American  

[kon-trer-ee, kuhn-trair-ee] / ˈkɒn trɛr i, kənˈtrɛər i /

adjective

1. opposite in nature or character; diametrically or mutually opposed.

   contrary to fact; contrary propositions.

   Synonyms:

   counter, conflicting, contradictory

2. opposite in direction or position.

   departures in contrary directions.

3. being the opposite one of two.

   I will make the contrary choice.

4. unfavorable or adverse.

   Synonyms:

   hostile, unfriendly

   Antonyms:

   favorable

5. perverse; stubbornly opposed or willful.

   Synonyms:

   pigheaded, stubborn, headstrong, obstinate, intractable

   Antonyms:

   complaisant, obliging

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noun

• contraries
  plural

1. something that is contrary or opposite.

   to prove the contrary of a statement.

2. either of two contrary things.

3. Logic. a proposition so related to another proposition that both may not be true though both may be false, as with the propositions “All judges are male” and “No judges are male.”

adverb

1. in opposition; oppositely; counter.

   to act contrary to one's own principles.

idioms

1. by contraries, contrary to expectation.

2. on the contrary,

   1. in opposition to what has been stated.

   2. from another point of view.

      On the contrary, there may be some who would agree with you.

3. to the contrary,

   1. to the opposite effect.

      I believe he is innocent, whatever they may say to the contrary.

   2. to a different effect.

contrary British  

/ ˈkɒntrərɪ /

adjective

1. opposed in nature, position, etc

   contrary ideas

2. perverse; obstinate

3. (esp of wind) adverse; unfavourable

4. (of plant parts) situated at right angles to each other

5. logic (of a pair of propositions) related so that they cannot both be true at once, although they may both be false together Compare subcontrary contradictory

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noun

1. the exact opposite (esp in the phrase to the contrary )

2. quite the reverse; not at all

3. either of two exactly opposite objects, facts, or qualities

4. logic a statement that cannot be true when a given statement is true

adverb

1. in an opposite or unexpected way

   contrary to usual belief

2. in conflict (with) or contravention (of)

   contrary to nature

contrary More Idioms  

1. see on the contrary; to the contrary.

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Synonym Usage

See opposite. Contrary, adverse both describe something that opposes. Contrary conveys an idea of something impersonal and objective whose opposition happens to be unfavorable: contrary winds. Adverse suggests something more personally unfriendly or even hostile; it emphasizes the idea of the resulting misfortune to that which is opposed: The judge rendered a decision adverse to the defendant.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• contrariness
  noun
• quasi-contrary
  adjective
• contrarily
  adverb
• quasi-contrarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contraries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contrary

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English contrarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin contrārius; equivalent to contra ¹ + -ary

Explanation

Use contrary when two things are exactly opposite or entirely different. If something is contrary to something else, it is opposed to or against it. A contrary child is one who opposes people in authority. As a noun, the contrary means the opposite, as in "We will not give up; on the contrary, we will fight with all our power." The adjective contrary derives from Latin contrarius ("opposite, opposed") from contra ("against").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contrary contraries

After a brief interrogation, and contrary to Dan’s previous claims, Bill admitted involvement with the superstore.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

On the contrary, it helps ensure that you can continue to be present.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Kamba added there had been no Ebola cases in Mongala Province - where the passenger who died disembarked - contrary to earlier reports.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

On the contrary, he’s never felt more support from everyday people who share his mindset.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

“Impossible!—when I told you how she, on the contrary, deserted me: the idea of my insolvency cooled, or rather extinguished, her flame in a moment.”

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

We grow up to discover there are names in every culture for that — yin and yang, the Apollonian and Dionysian, Vishnu and Shiva, thesis and antithesis, the law of contraries, the dialectic.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

Art is made of contraries, of ambivalence and ambiguity; it never wants us to feel a single thing.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2020

She revels in detail but writes vast, moral poems that help us live in a world of contraries in which “we hold still for the camera, believing/ it will shore up time, knowing it won’t.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2016

“The knowledge of contraries is one and the same,” as Aristotle said.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2014

But thought works in the changing and becoming, not in the changed and become; all things sliding by imperceptible gradations into their contraries, the cosmos rising out of the chaos by its agency.

From Tablets by Amos Bronson Alcott

Related Words

• adverse
• antithetical
• conflicting
• contradictory
• discordant
• hostile
• inconsistent
• inimical
• negative
• opposed
• paradoxical
• wrongheaded