contrarious
Americanadjective
-
Chiefly Appalachian. perverse; refractory.
-
Archaic. adverse; unfavorable.
adjective
-
(of people or animals) perverse or obstinate
-
(of conditions) unfavourable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of contrarious
1250–1300; Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Latin contrārius contrary; see -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And therefore they make images like to those things that they have belief in, for to behold them and worship them first at morning, or they meet any contrarious things.
From The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Mandeville, John, Sir
Volumes of report Run with these false and most contrarious quests Upon thy doings!
From John Lothrop Motley, A Memoir — Complete by Holmes, Oliver Wendell
Part of his wish to wash his hands of life arose from his perception of its contrarious inconsistencies—of Nature's jaunty readiness to support unorthodox social principles.
From The Mayor of Casterbridge by Hardy, Thomas
The children of Mercurie and of Venus Been in hir wirking ful contrarious; Mercurie loveth wisdom and science, And Venus loveth ryot and dispence.
From Astronomical Lore in Chaucer by Grimm, Florence M.
The Gaelic man had no sooner entered the Kirk o' the General Assembly," they said, "than the maister of the Assembly rose, and, speaking very rough, said, 'Ye contrarious rascal, what tak's you here?
From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Miller, Hugh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
