contradictory

American  

[kon-truh-dik-tuh-ree] / ˌkɒn trəˈdɪk tə ri /

adjective

1. asserting the contrary or opposite; contradicting; inconsistent; logically opposite.

   contradictory statements.

   Synonyms:

   paradoxical, irreconcilable

2. tending or inclined to contradict.

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noun

plural

contradictories

1. Logic. a proposition so related to a second that it is impossible for both to be true or both to be false.

contradictory British  

/ ˌkɒntrəˈdɪktərɪ /

adjective

1. inconsistent; incompatible

2. given to argument and contention

   a contradictory person

3. logic (of a pair of statements) unable both to be true or both to be false under the same circumstances Compare contrary subcontrary

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noun

1. logic a statement that cannot be true when a given statement is true or false when it is false

Other Word Forms

• contradictorily adverb
• contradictoriness noun
• intercontradictory adjective
• noncontradictory adjective
• uncontradictory adjective

Etymology

Origin of contradictory

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin contrādictōrius; equivalent to contradict + -ory ¹

Example Sentences

"A lot of the studies on this explosion provide different, and sometimes contradictory, explanations. It's still early in our understanding of what really happened."

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

Sondheim’s were instead tamed by his art, Okrent suggests, which shaped his “textured, contradictory, troubling, and gratifying life.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

Or, worse still, he has proclaimed many objectives, some of them contradictory with one another, many of them inconsistent with objectives proclaimed by his top advisers, because they don’t know what his objectives are either.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

The suit filed Monday in a California federal court alleges that Joby’s actions undermine national security and run contradictory to its branding as an “American-made” air-taxi manufacturer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

Simultaneous and contradictory information declared him victorious in Villanueva, defeated in Guacamayal, devoured by Motilón Indians, dead in a village in the swamp, and up in arms again in Urumita.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Related Words

• antithetical
• conflicting
• contrary
• incompatible
• inconsistent
• paradoxical