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

As Simon Elliott describes in his biography “The African Emperor,” Severus was a mercurial and contradictory character, capable by turns of savagery, cunning, wit and generosity, and always blessed with a sense of the theatrical.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 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

But it does seem somewhat contradictory to slate Arsenal for their style when they fall short, then carp when they reach March in firm contention for all four major prizes.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

American physicists emerged from the war torn between two contradictory sensations.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

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