contrary

American  

[kon-trer-ee, kuhn-trair-ee] / ˈkɒn trɛr i, kənˈtrɛər i /

adjective

1. opposite in nature or character; diametrically or mutually opposed.

   contrary to fact; contrary propositions.

   Synonyms:

   counter, conflicting, contradictory

2. opposite in direction or position.

   departures in contrary directions.

3. being the opposite one of two.

   I will make the contrary choice.

4. unfavorable or adverse.

   Synonyms:

   hostile, unfriendly

   Antonyms:

   favorable

5. perverse; stubbornly opposed or willful.

   Synonyms:

   pigheaded, stubborn, headstrong, obstinate, intractable

   Antonyms:

   complaisant, obliging

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noun

• contraries
  plural

1. something that is contrary or opposite.

   to prove the contrary of a statement.

2. either of two contrary things.

3. Logic. a proposition so related to another proposition that both may not be true though both may be false, as with the propositions “All judges are male” and “No judges are male.”

adverb

1. in opposition; oppositely; counter.

   to act contrary to one's own principles.

idioms

1. by contraries, contrary to expectation.

2. on the contrary,

   1. in opposition to what has been stated.

   2. from another point of view.

      On the contrary, there may be some who would agree with you.

3. to the contrary,

   1. to the opposite effect.

      I believe he is innocent, whatever they may say to the contrary.

   2. to a different effect.

contrary British  

/ ˈkɒntrərɪ /

adjective

1. opposed in nature, position, etc

   contrary ideas

2. perverse; obstinate

3. (esp of wind) adverse; unfavourable

4. (of plant parts) situated at right angles to each other

5. logic (of a pair of propositions) related so that they cannot both be true at once, although they may both be false together Compare subcontrary contradictory

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noun

1. the exact opposite (esp in the phrase to the contrary )

2. quite the reverse; not at all

3. either of two exactly opposite objects, facts, or qualities

4. logic a statement that cannot be true when a given statement is true

adverb

1. in an opposite or unexpected way

   contrary to usual belief

2. in conflict (with) or contravention (of)

   contrary to nature

contrary More Idioms  

1. see on the contrary; to the contrary.

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Synonym Usage

See opposite. Contrary, adverse both describe something that opposes. Contrary conveys an idea of something impersonal and objective whose opposition happens to be unfavorable: contrary winds. Adverse suggests something more personally unfriendly or even hostile; it emphasizes the idea of the resulting misfortune to that which is opposed: The judge rendered a decision adverse to the defendant.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• contrariness
  noun
• quasi-contrary
  adjective
• contrarily
  adverb
• quasi-contrarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contraries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contrary

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English contrarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin contrārius; equivalent to contra ¹ + -ary

Explanation

Use contrary when two things are exactly opposite or entirely different. If something is contrary to something else, it is opposed to or against it. A contrary child is one who opposes people in authority. As a noun, the contrary means the opposite, as in "We will not give up; on the contrary, we will fight with all our power." The adjective contrary derives from Latin contrarius ("opposite, opposed") from contra ("against").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contrary contraries

To the contrary, the entire discussion on YouTube was about Grande’s body, not the video’s visuals or the music, a lovely torch song where she compares herself to a “petal in the pavement.”

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

On the contrary, Faraji told me, “mosquito control is really a job for everybody.”

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

In a legal document seen by the BBC, the coalition of Democratic states said the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Stocks usually perform well in August, contrary to the widespread belief that it’s one of the worst months of the year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

But the scratches and bruises were long healed, and all her own statements at the time were to the contrary.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

We grow up to discover there are names in every culture for that — yin and yang, the Apollonian and Dionysian, Vishnu and Shiva, thesis and antithesis, the law of contraries, the dialectic.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

Art is made of contraries, of ambivalence and ambiguity; it never wants us to feel a single thing.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2020

She revels in detail but writes vast, moral poems that help us live in a world of contraries in which “we hold still for the camera, believing/ it will shore up time, knowing it won’t.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2016

“The knowledge of contraries is one and the same,” as Aristotle said.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2014

Such is an ordinary function of committees and boards, and the sole aim of conciliations and concessions, to make contraries look the same, and to secure an outward agreement where there is no other unity.

From An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine by Newman, John Henry Cardinal

Related Words

• adverse
• antithetical
• conflicting
• contradictory
• discordant
• hostile
• inconsistent
• inimical
• negative
• opposed
• paradoxical
• wrongheaded