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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.

noun

plural

contradictories

  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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of contradictory

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

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.