contradictory

American  

[kon-truh-dik-tuh-ree] / ˌkɒn trəˈdɪk tə ri /

adjective

1. asserting the contrary or opposite; contradicting; inconsistent; logically opposite.

   contradictory statements.

   Synonyms:

   paradoxical, irreconcilable

2. tending or inclined to contradict.

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noun

• contradictories
  plural

1. Logic. a proposition so related to a second that it is impossible for both to be true or both to be false.

contradictory British  

/ ˌkɒntrəˈdɪktərɪ /

adjective

1. inconsistent; incompatible

2. given to argument and contention

   a contradictory person

3. logic (of a pair of statements) unable both to be true or both to be false under the same circumstances Compare contrary subcontrary

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noun

1. logic a statement that cannot be true when a given statement is true or false when it is false

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• contradictoriness
  noun
• intercontradictory
  adjective
• noncontradictory
  adjective
• uncontradictory
  adjective
• contradictorily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contradictories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contradictory

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin contrādictōrius; equivalent to contradict + -ory ¹

Explanation

A contradictory statement is one that says two things that cannot both be true. An example: My sister is jealous of me because I'm an only child. Contradictory is related to the verb contradict, which means to say or do the opposite, and contrary, which means to take an opposite view. When witnesses give contradictory accounts of crimes—one saying the assailant had a knife and the other a gun—police officers often assume that at least one of the witnesses is lying.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contradictory contradictories

In a post on Telegram, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged Trump's rejection, but accused the president of previously making contradictory statements.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

In true Tove Lo fashion, the surrounding serene village made her turn to the familiar sounds of heavy club electronica, further building on the contradictory ethos that comprises “Estrus.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

He said the correct Fed policy decision would be to stay on hold until these contradictory signals abate.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Customers complained the line from the Ayn Rand book “Atlas Shrugged,” which promotes self-interest, was contradictory to the inclusive teachings of yoga.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

As for the boom, it had become a faraway blur, a kind of confused, powerful, contradictory dream that made some people chuckle and others wince in the retelling of it.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

The animal and the spiritual are not contradictories; they are the complements in the perfect character; and in the middle ages, as in all ages of genuine earnestness, they interfused and penetrated each other.

From Short Studies on Great Subjects by James Anthony Froude

I think the truth is that these two contradictories lie side by side in Parmenides unreconciled, and still mutually contradicting each other.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by W. T. (Walter Terence) Stace

Not by reason, for two contradictories in the same subject are impossible.

From A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy by Isaac Husik

Did the 'law of sharing' so little legitimate their procedure that a law of identity of contradictories, forsooth, must be trumped up to give it scope?

From The Will to Believe : and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

This necessity of accepting one of two contradictories is wholly based upon the supposed impossibility of a mean; if the mean exists, that may be true, and both the contradictories false.

From Know the Truth; A critique of the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse H. Jones

Related Words

• antithetical
• conflicting
• contrary
• incompatible
• inconsistent
• paradoxical