contrast

American  

[kuhn-trast, kon-trast, kon-trast] / kənˈtræst, ˈkɒn træst, ˈkɒn træst /

verb (used with object)

contrasts, present (3rd person singular) contrasted, past participle, past contrasting present participle

1. to compare in order to show unlikeness or differences; note the opposite natures, purposes, etc., of.

   Contrast the political rights of Romans and Greeks.

   Synonyms:

   oppose, distinguish, discriminate, differentiate

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verb (used without object)

contrasts, present (3rd person singular) contrasted, past participle, past contrasting present participle

1. to show striking difference when compared with or viewed alongside something else.

   Youth leadership on the issue contrasts with government inaction.

   The blue of the wood trim contrasts nicely with the pale yellow walls.

2. Linguistics. to differ in a way that can serve to distinguish meanings.

   The sounds (p) and (b) contrast in the words “pin” and “bin.”

noun

contrasts plural

1. a striking difference.

   The study revealed interesting contrasts between people who regularly read books and those who don't.

2. a person or thing that is strikingly different in comparison.

   The weather down here is a welcome contrast to what we're having back home.

3. opposition or juxtaposition of different formal elements in a work of art, music, or literature to intensify each element's properties and make the work more dynamically expressive.

   The artist makes effective use of color contrast in the illustrations.

   There’s a stark contrast of tempo in the sonata’s two movements.

4. the act of comparing people or things so as to draw attention to striking differences between them.

   Each essay topic involves the contrast of two of the novels studied in the course.

5. Photography. the relative difference between light and dark areas of a print, digital photograph, or negative.

6. the brightness ratio of the lightest to the darkest part of the screen image on a television, computer, or other electronic device.

7. Linguistics. a difference between linguistic elements, especially sounds, that can serve to distinguish meanings.

idioms

1. stand in contrast to / with, to show a striking difference when compared to or with.

   The actor’s on-screen gun violence stands in contrast to her real-life persona as an advocate for gun control.

2. in contrast, in comparison to something that is the opposite or strikingly different in some respect.

   In contrast to personal computers, which are rare in that country, cell phones are widely available and even most children have their own.

3. by contrast. see by contrast.

4. compare and contrast. see compare and contrast.

contrast British  

verb

1. (often foll by with) to distinguish or be distinguished by comparison of unlike or opposite qualities

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noun

1. distinction or emphasis of difference by comparison of opposite or dissimilar things, qualities, etc (esp in the phrases by contrast, in contrast to or with )

2. a person or thing showing notable differences when compared with another

3. (in painting) the effect of the juxtaposition of different colours, tones, etc

4. 1. (of a photographic emulsion) the degree of density measured against exposure used

   2. the extent to which adjacent areas of an optical image, esp on a television screen or in a photographic negative or print, differ in brightness

5. psychol the phenomenon that when two different but related stimuli are presented close together in space and/or time they are perceived as being more different than they really are

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• contrastable
  adjective
• contrasting
  adjective
• contrastive
  adjective
• quasi-contrasted
  adjective
• uncontrastable
  adjective
• uncontrasted
  adjective
• uncontrasting
  adjective
• well-contrasted
  adjective
• contrastably
  adverb
• contrastingly
  adverb
• contrastively
  adverb
• uncontrastably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contrasts
  plural

Participles

• contrasting
  present
• contrasted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• contrast
  simple
• contrasts
  simple
• have contrasted
  perfect
• has contrasted
  perfect
• am contrasting
  progressive
• are contrasting
  progressive
• is contrasting
  progressive
• have been contrasting
  perfect progressive
• has been contrasting
  perfect progressive

Past

• contrasted
  simple
• had contrasted
  perfect
• was contrasting
  progressive
• were contrasting
  progressive
• had been contrasting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will contrast
  simple
• will have contrasted
  perfect
• will be contrasting
  progressive
• will have been contrasting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of contrast

First recorded in 1480–90; (for the verb) from Middle French contraster, from Italian contrastare “to contest,” from Latin contrā- contra- ¹ ( def. ) + stāre “to stand” ( cf. status); (for the noun) earlier contraste, from French, from Italian contrasto “conflict,” derivative of contrastare

Explanation

The verb contrast means to show a difference, like photos that reveal how much weight someone lost by contrasting the "before" and "after" shots. You probably know contrast in its relation to compare. To contrast something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but compare is to do the opposite, to look for similarities. It's easy to tell the difference if you remember that contrast comes from the Latin root contra, and means "against." Contrast is also a noun meaning basically the same thing — you might notice the contrast of a dark tree against a snow-covered hill.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contrast contrasts contrasted contrasting

Babitz, by contrast, saw things sunny side up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

By contrast, Peterborough City Council has issued 45 fines since 2023.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

The American Embassy in Nepal said at the time that U.S. commercial drone technology “will enable deliveries on Mount Everest in a few minutes, in contrast to multiple-day treks.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

In the retina, these circuits begin organizing visual signals before they even reach the brain, helping identify features such as brightness, contrast, movement, and shape.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

Compare and contrast the pitch names on the staff with the letters of the alphabet.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The contrasts become worse in looking at Vance and Obama’s second books, both of which were more obviously written with an eye toward running for higher office.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

Computer models are hinting at big contrasts in weather fortunes across different areas of the UK next week.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

He contrasts that with "more sophisticated methods in the past of our field" that "wouldn't be able to even start going for some of these three-dimensional problems, because they're so big."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

The show was always brilliant at orchestrating moods, with its slow-fast, quiet-loud contrasts, its extreme close-ups and noisy action scenes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

He, like the rest of us, is now dressed in a standard, formfitting suit of red body armor that starkly contrasts with the world around us.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Steven C. Kemp’s sets contrasted the forbiddingly gray and angular environment of Atlas with the riotously colored, luminescent trees and rocks of the world outside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

The researchers contrasted the average returns of the hedge funds that met their specific criteria with all other hedge funds between 2006 and 2024.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026

His song, Ferto, contrasted the materialism of the social media generation with the struggles his family endured during the Greek financial crisis of 2009-18.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

Fan groups have contrasted the tickets for this summer with the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

Its whiteness contrasted starkly with the black veil that framed her head like a shroud.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

The simulations indicate that the contrasting moon systems of Jupiter and Saturn may have emerged from differences in the structures of their circumplanetary disks.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

The contrasting standards vex those worried for the future of public education.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

Titmouse’s work, in development by a number of directors with contrasting tones, will be shown on a variety of formats, ranging from cinema screens to full-room projections.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

But as the singer sent a message of solidarity to Venezuela following its devastating earthquakes, it was also an evening of contrasting emotions.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

He would have been a handsome man, with his fine dark eyes, bushy black brows, contrasting smartly with the white tie-wig he wore, except for the color and quality of his flesh.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Related Words

• comparison
• contradiction
• disagreement
• disparity
• distinction
• divergence
• diversity
• opposition
• variation