contradictory

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin contradictorius, from Latin contradico.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒntɹəˈdɪkt(ə)ɹi/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑntɹəˈdɪktəɹi/
• Hyphenation: con‧tra‧dic‧to‧ry

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

contradictory (comparative more contradictory, superlative most contradictory)

1. That contradicts something, such as an argument.
2. That is itself a contradiction.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 149:

     Our attitudes toward sharks are contradictory. We fear them and yet we seek them out.

3. That is diametrically opposed to something.
   • 1715 January 24 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 7. Thursday, January 13. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:

     Schemes […] contradictory to common sense.

4. Mutually exclusive.
5. Tending to contradict or oppose, contrarious.

Synonyms

• opposite
• (mutually exclusive) incompatible

Derived terms

• contradictorily
• contradictoriness
• contradictory antonym
• non-contradictory
• self-contradictory

 

Related terms

• contradict
• contradiction
• contradictorious

Translations

that contradicts something

• Arabic: نَقِيض‎ m (naqīḍ)
• Asturian: contradictoriu
• Azerbaijani: zidd (az)
• Bulgarian: противоре́чащ (bg) (protivoréčašt)
• Catalan: contradictori
• Czech: protichůdný, protikladný
• Danish: modstridende
• Dutch: tegenstrijdig (nl), contradictoir (nl)
• Finnish: ristiriitainen (fi), vastakkainen (fi)
• French: contradictoire (fr)
• Galician: contraditorio
• German: widersprüchlich (de)
• Greek: αντιφατικός (el) m (antifatikós)

  Ancient: ἀντίλογος (antílogos)

• Hungarian: ellentmondásos (hu)
• Irish: bréagnaitheach
• Italian: contraddittorio (it)
• Kazakh: қарама-қайшы (qarama-qaişy)
• Latin: contrādictōrius
• Macedonian: проти́вречен (protívrečen)
• Maori: rongorua
• Norwegian: motsigende
• Occitan: contradictòri (oc)
• Polish: sprzeczny (pl)
• Portuguese: contraditório (pt) m
• Romanian: contradictoriu (ro), contrar (ro)
• Russian: противоре́чащий (ru) (protivoréčaščij)
• Spanish: contradictorio (es)
• Swedish: motstridig (sv), motsatt (sv)
• Ukrainian: супере́чний (superéčnyj)

that is itself a contradiction

• Arabic: تَنَاقُضِيّ‎ m (tanāquḍiyy)
• Armenian: հակասական (hy) (hakasakan)
• Asturian: contradictoriu
• Azerbaijani: ziddiyyətli
• Belarusian: супярэчлі́вы (supjarečlívy)
• Bulgarian: противоречив (bg) (protivorečiv)
• Catalan: contradictori
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 自相矛盾 (zh) (zìxiāngmáodùn)

• Czech: protiřečící si
• Dutch: contradictoir (nl), contradictorisch (nl)
• Finnish: ristiriitainen (fi)
• French: contradictoire (fr)
• Galician: contraditorio
• Greek: αντιφατικός (el) (antifatikós)
• Italian: contrario (it), incoerente (it)
• Macedonian: проти́вречен (protívrečen)
• Ossetian: ныхмӕлӕууӕг (nyxmælæwwæg)
• Portuguese: contraditório (pt) m
• Romanian: contradictoriu (ro)
• Russian: противоречи́вый (ru) (protivorečívyj)
• Ukrainian: супере́чливий (superéčlyvyj), супере́чливий m (superéčlyvyj)

that is diametrically opposed to something

• Bulgarian: противополо́жен (bg) (protivopolóžen)
• Czech: protikladný
• Dutch: tegengesteld (nl)
• Macedonian: спро́тивен (sprótiven)
• Portuguese: contrário (pt)
• Russian: противополо́жный (ru) (protivopolóžnyj)
• Ukrainian: протиле́жний (uk) m (protyléžnyj)

mutually exclusive

• Czech: neslučitelný
• Dutch: onverenigbaar (nl)
• Russian: несовмести́мый (ru) (nesovmestímyj)

tending to contradict, contrarious

• Bulgarian: противоре́чащ (bg) (protivoréčašt)
• Czech: odporující
• Dutch: tegendraads (nl), dwars (nl)
• Macedonian: проти́вречен m (protívrečen)
• Russian: противоречи́вый (ru) (protivorečívyj), противоре́чащий (ru) (protivoréčaščij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} contradictoire (fr)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} סותר‎ m (soter), ^{(please verify)} סותרת‎ f (soteret) (1), ^{(please verify)} מנוגד‎ m (menugad), ^{(please verify)} מנוגדת‎ f (menugedet) (3)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} contradictorio (es)

Noun

contradictory (plural contradictories)

1. (logic) Either of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false.
   • 2001, Mark Sainsbury, chapter 1, in Logical Forms — An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, §4, page 20:

     If one proposition is the negation of another, it follows trivially from the definition that the two propositions are contradictories. The converse does not hold. Two propositions can be contradictories without either being the negation of the other. For example:
        3) John is more than six feet tall
     and
        4) John is either exactly six feet tall or else less than six feet tall
     are contradictories, but neither is the negation of the other. Negation is one way, but not the only way, of forming a contradictory.

Hyponyms

• negation

Translations

any of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false

• Arabic: نَقِيض‎ m (naqīḍ)
• Dutch: tegenstrijdigheid (nl)
• Macedonian: контрадикција f (kontradikcija), противречие n (protivrečie)
• Romanian: contradicție (ro) f, contrazicere (ro) f

See also

• oxymoron
• paradox