contradict
Americanverb (used with object)
-
contradicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
contradicted,
past participle, past
-
contradicting
present participle
-
to assert the contrary or opposite of; deny directly and categorically.
- Synonyms:
- dispute, controvert, impugn, gainsay
- Antonyms:
- support
-
to speak contrary to the assertions of.
to contradict oneself.
- Synonyms:
- dispute, controvert, impugn, gainsay
-
(of an action or event) to imply a denial of.
His way of life contradicts his stated principles.
-
Obsolete. to speak or declare against; oppose.
verb (used without object)
-
contradicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
contradicted,
past participle, past
-
contradicting
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to affirm the opposite of (a proposition, statement, etc)
-
(tr) to declare (a proposition, statement, etc) to be false or incorrect; deny
-
(intr) to be argumentative or contrary
-
(tr) to be inconsistent with (a proposition, theory, etc)
the facts contradicted his theory
-
(intr) (of two or more facts, principles, etc) to be at variance; be in contradiction
Synonym Usage
See deny.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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contradicternoun
-
contradictivenessnoun
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contradictornoun
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contradictableadjective
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contradictiveadjective
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uncontradictableadjective
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uncontradictedadjective
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contradictivelyadverb
-
uncontradictablyadverb
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uncontradictedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
contradictsimple
-
contradictssimple
-
have contradictedperfect
-
has contradictedperfect
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am contradictingprogressive
-
are contradictingprogressive
-
is contradictingprogressive
-
have been contradictingperfect progressive
-
has been contradictingperfect progressive
Past
-
contradictedsimple
-
had contradictedperfect
-
was contradictingprogressive
-
were contradictingprogressive
-
had been contradictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of contradict
First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin contrādictus “spoken against,” past participle of contrādīcere “to gainsay, speak against,” from contrā- contra- 1 ( def. ) + dīcere “to say, speak, tell”
Explanation
"Contra-" usually means "against," and to contradict is to go against or say the opposite of what someone else is doing or saying. Sometimes to contradict is to frustrate with words, like when one person says "The sky is blue" and another says "No, it's azure." Denying or distorting the truth is a big part of trying to contradict. It can be harmless verbal back-and-forth, like when a husband and wife disagree just to disagree, or contradict each other to make a humorous point, but at other times people contradict something to make another person look like a liar. Often, a person who has lied will later contradict himself by saying something different from what he said earlier — and sometimes the two sides contradict each other, and neither is actually right.
Vocabulary lists containing contradict
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Bennu's boulder-covered surface appeared to contradict those earlier measurements, leaving researchers with a puzzling question: How could an asteroid covered in massive rocks cool so quickly?
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
Rosval, trying to build kitchens in which creativity and humane working conditions reinforce, rather than contradict, one another.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
In Compernolle’s view, the recent selling could still easily reverse if upcoming economic data contradict Wednesday’s strong S&P manufacturing data.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
No one knows, but the observable facts don’t contradict his guess.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
He looked around the crowd, as if daring anyone to contradict him.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
Dr. Jan Schönig at Göttingen University's Geoscience Center explains: "Finding this change from hot to cold subduction was unexpected as this contradicts our current thermal models of subduction zones."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
Dourif has never generated any significant controversies to our knowledge, but his appearance is notable because it contradicts his 2024 retirement announcement.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
This contradicts Judge Crenshaw’s conclusion, as he found that email communications between McGuire and the DOJ suggested there was some level of coordination between the two.
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2026
This contradicts recent theories of some analysts that the capacity expansion by the likes of SK Hynix might lead to oversupply and lower prices.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Her insolent behavior contradicts her quiz scores. I don’t understand her motivations, and when I don’t understand something, Reynard, it is natural that I don’t trust it.”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Challenged by Allen that the bond markets had “slapped back”, Bessent flatly contradicted him: “No, it didn’t.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Mickelson hired defamation attorney Tom Clare, who said video evidence contradicted the allegations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
She danced and sinned and regretted and atoned, and then contradicted herself by doing it all over again.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Judge Emeka Nwite, who presided over the case, said the evidence presented against them was "neither shaken nor contradicted during cross examination".
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Now it’s clear why they contradicted me at every turn: they knew me all along.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
“Where even, contradicting ideas held together at the same time is often just interesting, at the very least, and then you can sort of finesse interesting into funny, at a certain point.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Two of the supervisors realized Mason’s filing contained major errors, such as contradicting the trial record by asserting one witness never visually identified Johnson as the shooter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
She claimed a turnover of £252,000, again contradicting the £72,000 estimate she provided on her bank account application.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
In March, Jefferies analyst Surinder Thind said he’d seen no evidence of a recovery in customer appetite, directly contradicting management’s upbeat commentary.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
They couldn’t believe that I was contradicting a teacher.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
