contrarious
Americanadjective
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Chiefly Appalachian. perverse; refractory.
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Archaic. adverse; unfavorable.
adjective
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(of people or animals) perverse or obstinate
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(of conditions) unfavourable
Other Word 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.
Say worthie Doctours & Clerkes curious, What moneth you of bookes to have such number, Since diuers doctrines through way contrarious, Doth man's minde distract and sore encomber.
From Bibliomania in the Middle Ages by Frederick Somner Merryweather
The other kind is at best a permanent 'friendship recognised by the police':—a tacit confession of failure which this high-hearted, if contrarious couple were by no means minded to arrive at, now or ever.
From The Great Amulet by Maud Diver
And therefore thei maken ymages lyche to tho thinges, that thei han beleeve inne, for to beholden hem and worschipen hem first at morwe, or thei meeten ony contrarious thinges.
From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 08 Asia, Part I by Richard Hakluyt
I wonder what makes you such a contrarious person, Gibbie Gault?
From Miss Gibbie Gault by Kate Langley Bosher
O place and greatness, millions of false eyes Are stuck upon thee! volumes of report Run with these false, and most contrarious quest Upon thy doings!
From Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
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.
