contrariety

[kon-truh-rahy-i-tee]

noun

plural

contrarieties 

1. the quality or state of being contrary.

2. something contrary or of opposite character; a contrary fact or statement.

3. Logic.,  the relation between contraries.

contrariety

/ ˌkɒntrəˈraɪətɪ /

noun

1. opposition between one thing and another; disagreement

2. an instance of such opposition; inconsistency; discrepancy

3. logic the relationship between two contraries

Other Word Forms

• noncontrariety noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contrariety¹

1350–1400; Middle English contrariete (< Anglo-French ) < Late Latin contrārietās. See contrary, -ity

Example Sentences

He says what you wouldn’t expect; if Dyson has a pattern, perhaps it is contrariety.

Read more on Nature

Where Dylan rambunctiously inhabits the multifarious world, Cohen more often circles the many mortal contrarieties that lie between the lovers’ bed and the altar – regularly, for him, the same thing.

Read more on The Guardian

A profanity that the mayor of Florence used publicly to describe McDonald’s earlier this year betrayed “a belligerent contrariety,” the suit says.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Sharpe shook his head as if to clear it of contrarieties.

Read more on Literature

He lays out all of Benton’s contrarieties, argues them through, prosecuting, defending, and usually leaves them as he found them.

Read more on New York Times