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

When challenged about its apparent contradictory position to diplomacy when applied to its own conflicts, Pakistan has said that it tried years of talks that did not yield the security it needed.

From BBC

"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

But it presented me with a unique research problem, for no anecdote from PARC’s rich history is burdened by so much contradictory testimony.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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