contrary

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English (deprecated template usage) contrarie, also (deprecated template usage) contraire, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French (deprecated template usage) contraire, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin (deprecated template usage) contrarius, from (deprecated template usage) contra.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒntɹəɹi/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -ɛəɹi (some pronunciations)

Adjective

contrary (comparative more contrary, superlative most contrary)

1. Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.

   contrary winds

   • Bible, Leviticus xxvi. 21

     And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me […]

   • Shakespeare

     We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way.

2. Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent.
   • Whewell

     The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.

3. Given to opposition; perverse; wayward.

   a contrary disposition; a contrary child

Derived terms

• contrarian
• contrarily
• contrariwise
• contrary to

Translations

opposed in nature

• Bulgarian: обратен (bg) (obraten), противоположен (bg) (protivopoložen)
• Finnish: vastakkainen, päinvastainen
• Irish: contrártha
• Italian: contrario (it), opposto (it)
• Japanese: 逆の (ja) (gyaku no), 反する (ja) (han suru)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kannada: ಮಾರು (kn) (māru)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: tukipoho, tūmū (of wind)
• Romanian: contrar (ro) m or n, opus (ro) m or n

strongly dissimilar

• Romanian: contrar (ro)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Adverb

contrary (comparative more contrary, superlative most contrary)

1. Contrarily

Noun

contrary (plural contraries)

1. The opposite.
   • Shakespeare

     No contraries hold more antipathy / Than I and such a knave.

2. One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true.
   • I. Watts

     If two universals differ in quality, they are contraries; as, every vine is a tree; no vine is a tree. These can never be both true together; but they may be both false.

Synonyms

• witherward

Derived terms

• on the contrary
• to the contrary

Verb

contrary (third-person singular simple present contrar, present participle ies, simple past and past participle contraried)

1. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To oppose; to frustrate.
   • Bishop Latimer

     I was advised not to contrary the king.

   • Template:RQ:Flr Mntgn Essays, I.47:

     The Athenians having left the enemie in their owne land, for to pass into Sicilie, had very ill successe, and were much contraried by fortune […].

2. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To impugn.
3. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To contradict (someone or something).
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “lxxvij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
     :

     thus wilfully sir Palomydes dyd bataille with yow / & as for hym sir I was not gretely aferd but I dred fore laūcelot that knew yow not / Madame said Palomydes ye maye saye what so ye wyll / I maye not contrary yow but by my knyghthode I knewe not sir Tristram

   • Template:RQ:Flr Mntgn Essays, II.12:

     I finde them everie one in his turne to have reason, although they contrary one another.

4. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To do the opposite of (someone or something).
5. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To act inconsistently or perversely; to act in opposition to.
6. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To argue; to debate; to uphold an opposite opinion.
7. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) To be self-contradictory; to become reversed.

Translations

frustrating

• Maori: tukipoho (of the wind)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Related terms

• contra
• counter

References

• “contrary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “contrary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “contrary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “contrary”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.