contrarian

American  

[kuhn-trair-ee-uhn] / kənˈtrɛər i ən /

noun

1. a person who takes an opposing view, especially one who rejects the majority opinion, as in economic matters.

---

contrarian British  

/ kənˈtrɛərɪən /

noun

1. 1. a contrary or obstinate person

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contrarian investor

      contrarian instincts

---

Etymology

Origin of contrarian

contr(ary) + -arian

Example Sentences

That’s Parker’s conclusion after he backtested this contrarian rebalancing strategy alongside two others: buy-and-hold and momentum-based methods, the latter with positions increased as they outperform and reduced as they underperform.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Ninety-five percent of gold mining stocks are now in a bear market, signaling a classic contrarian trading opportunity.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

The indicator is interpreted in a contrarian way, with higher values showing lower subsequent returns, and vice versa.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

Claude took 12 minutes to think about its bracket, which is more time than most humans devoted to this exercise, and crowned Illinois as its contrarian national champion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

But he was a natural contrarian, a born critic, whose fullest energies manifested themselves in the act of doing intellectual isometric exercises against the fixed objects presented by someone else's ideas.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis