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
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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)
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(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
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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
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uncontradictablyadverb
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uncontradictedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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contradictsimple
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contradictssimple
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have contradictedperfect
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has contradictedperfect
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am contradictingprogressive
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are contradictingprogressive
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is contradictingprogressive
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have been contradictingperfect progressive
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has been contradictingperfect progressive
Past
-
contradictedsimple
-
had contradictedperfect
-
was contradictingprogressive
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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:
Now, 12 years and many political lifetimes later, they read as quaint and out-of-touch, like a grandfather telling his grandson to never contradict his betters.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
The statement also emphasized that the district’s widely noted academic gains contradict “the idea that his performance was unsatisfactory or unprofessional or that he was in any way unfit for service.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Notably, no-one in the squad moved to contradict Uruguay's all-time leading scorer.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
An end to the conflict doesn’t contradict U.S. interest-rate rise expectations following strong U.S. data although the Federal Reserve might not agree with this assessment, she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
I want to contradict him and say that my own country is the greatest.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
“Death via organ donation” directly contradicts this principle, which is why it remains a concept that exists solely in the realm of academic exploration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
And then there’s the human cost of war — the central theme of the film, and one that Wilson says contradicts Homer’s poem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Sarwar had said he would stick around as leader to steady the ship, but his swift exit contradicts that position and is a source of controversy for some.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
It sounds like Justice Alito’s opinion contradicts the reality on the ground.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
Class contradicts their assumptions about the American dream, equal opportunity, and the reasons for their own successes and even failures.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
The advisers’ positive outlook, however, was somewhat contradicted by their concern regarding specific policy risks.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
She danced and sinned and regretted and atoned, and then contradicted herself by doing it all over again.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Mickelson hired Tom Clare, a top defamation attorney, who said video evidence contradicted the allegations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
The “Low Beta Anomaly” was first discovered in the 1970s and contradicted a bedrock stock-pricing model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
The problem was that nearly all the fossil evidence contradicted this, and suddenly in the nineteenth century there was a lot of fossil evidence.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
A former employee testified on Wednesday that some of Meta's safety tools for Facebook and Instagram were "designed to fail," contradicting the company's defense strategy in a landmark trial in California.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
County prosecutor, accused Hochman of contradicting himself, questioning the D.A.’s efforts to justify the officers’ coarse language.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 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 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes radiate heat and can eventually evaporate, apparently erasing all information about what fell into them — contradicting the quantum principle that evolution must preserve information.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
Then I talk back and start contradicting everyone until the old familiar Anne refrain inevitably crops up again: “No one understands me!”
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
