contradict

English

Etymology

From the pariciple stem of Latin contrādīcō (“I speak against”) (originally two words).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kɒntɹəˈdɪkt/

Verb

contradict (third-person singular simple present contradicts, present participle contradicting, simple past and past participle contradicted)

1. (obsolete) To speak against; to forbid.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p. 203:

     [...] magic hath been publically professed in former times, in Salamanca, Cracovia, and other places, though after censured by several universities, and now generally contradicted, though practised by some still [...].

2. To deny the truth of (a statement or statements).

   His testimony contradicts hers.

3. To make a statement denying the truth of the statement(s) made by (a person).

   Everything he says contradicts me.

Synonyms

• withspeak
• disconfirm
• deny
• dispute
• question

Translations

deny the truth of (a statement or statements)

Breton: dislavaret (br) Bulgarian: опровергавам (bg), отричам (bg) Catalan: contradir (ca) Dutch: tegenspreken (nl), weerleggen (nl) Esperanto: kontraŭdiri (eo) Finnish: kiistää (fi) French: contredire (fr) Hebrew: סתר (he) (satár) Italian: contradire (it) Latin: īnfitior (la)

Lithuanian: prieštarauti (lt) Norwegian: Bokmål: motsi (nb) Nynorsk: motseie (nn), motseia (nn) Polish: zaprzeczać (pl) Portuguese: contradizer (pt), desdizer (pt) Romanian: a contrazice Russian: противоречить (ru) Spanish: contradecir (es) Ukrainian: суперечити

deny the truth of statements made by (a person)

Breton: dislavaret (br) Bulgarian: противореча (bg) Catalan: contradir (ca) Dutch: tegenspreken (nl) Finnish: kiistää (fi) French: contredire (fr) German: widersprechen (de) Italian: contradire (it) Latin: adversor (la), contrādīcō (la), refrāgor (la)

Lithuanian: prieštarauti (lt) Norwegian: Bokmål: motsi (nb) Nynorsk: motseie (nn), motseia (nn) Polish: zaprzeczać, dementować Portuguese: contradizer, desdizer Romanian: a contrazice Russian: перечить (ru), противоречить (ru) Spanish: contradecir (es) Ukrainian: заперечувати Vietnamese: phủ nhận (vi)

See also

• gainsay