contradictory

[ kon-truh-dik-tuh-ree ]

/ ˌkɒn trəˈdɪk tə ri /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: contradictory / contradictories / contradictorily on Thesaurus.com

adjective

asserting the contrary or opposite; contradicting; inconsistent; logically opposite: contradictory statements.

tending or inclined to contradict.

noun, plural con·tra·dic·to·ries.

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

OTHER WORDS FOR contradictory

1 irreconcilable, paradoxical.

See synonyms for contradictory on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of contradictory

1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin contrādictōrius, equivalent to contrādic(ere) (see contradict) + -tōrius-tory¹

OTHER WORDS FROM contradictory

con·tra·dic·to·ri·ly, adverbcon·tra·dic·to·ri·ness, nounin·ter·con·tra·dic·to·ry, adjectivenon·con·tra·dic·to·ry, adjective, noun, plural non·con·tra·dic·to·ries.

un·con·tra·dic·to·ry, adjective

Words nearby contradictory

contradict, contradiction, contradiction in terms, contradictious, contradictive, contradictory, contradistinction, contradistinguish, contrafactual, contrafissura, contraflow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use contradictory in a sentence

The challenge with that is it’s completely contradictory to the agency model, which has been built around people, so there’s been a reluctance to build out AI and machine learning.
Media Buying Briefing: Why AI is steadily finding its place in agency land|jim cooper|February 15, 2021|Digiday
As I was reading On Inhumanity, I was wondering how much Smith’s commitment to contradictory beliefs matters.
Believing in Monsters: David Livingstone Smith on the Subhuman - Facts So Romantic|Eric Schwitzgebel|September 11, 2020|Nautilus
On this approach to belief, contradictory belief is impossible.
Believing in Monsters: David Livingstone Smith on the Subhuman - Facts So Romantic|Eric Schwitzgebel|September 11, 2020|Nautilus
On Conflicting Beliefs and Seeing People as MonstersAccording to Smith, the typical advocate of dehumanizing rhetoric has two contradictory beliefs.
Believing in Monsters: David Livingstone Smith on the Subhuman - Facts So Romantic|Eric Schwitzgebel|September 11, 2020|Nautilus

Data on how much infectious virus is present in the noses of asymptomatic people are contradictory, Kilpatrick says.
How often do asymptomatic people spread the coronavirus? It’s unclear|Erin Garcia de Jesus|June 9, 2020|Science News
America presents two contradictory narratives that it struggles to reconcile.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My optimism springs from the contradictory statements of the conservative justices of the court.
The Supreme Court Is Weighing Corporate Power Yet Again|Zephyr Teachout|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His teammates go further, doubting whether anybody fathoms the consistently contradictory Palmer--least of all Palmer.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up|Tom Boswell|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Consolmango writes that the Bible actually contains several contradictory Creation theories.
Pope Francis Asked ‘Would You Baptize an Alien?’ Here’s the Answer.|Barbie Latza Nadeau|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The upshot of these contradictory findings is that most people have trouble believing the figures produced by either side.
Scots Must Choose Heart or Head|Nico Hines|September 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By men the laws of a nation may be altered without being made contradictory to one another, or to oppose the law of God.
The Ordinance of Covenanting|John Cunningham
He was preserved from the fantastic by another gift which seems contradictory to the first.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
A word on the contradictory education which we bestow upon our daughters.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
But how are we to reconcile improbable facts related in a contradictory manner?
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
How, said they, could they assist by their presence at public prayers which were utterly contradictory to their private ones?
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century|Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton

British Dictionary definitions for contradictory

contradictory

/ (ˌkɒntrəˈdɪktərɪ) /

adjective

inconsistent; incompatible

given to argument and contentiona contradictory person

logic (of a pair of statements) unable both to be true or both to be false under the same circumstancesCompare contrary (def. 5), subcontrary (def. 1)

noun plural -ries

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

Derived forms of contradictory

contradictorily, adverbcontradictoriness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

contradictory

OTHER WORDS FOR contradictory

Origin of contradictory

OTHER WORDS FROM contradictory

Words nearby contradictory

Words related to contradictory

How to use contradictory in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for contradictory

Derived forms of contradictory