Contradictory

Definition: Contradictory

Contradictory

Adjective

1. Of words so related that both cannot be true and both cannot be false; "`perfect' and `imperfect' are contradictory terms".

2. That confounds or contradicts or confuses.

3. In disagreement; "the figures are at odds with our findings"; "contradictory attributes of unjust justice and loving vindictiveness"- John Morley.

4. Unable to be both true at the same time.

Noun

1. Two propositions are contradictories if both cannot be true (or both cannot be false) at the same time.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "contradictory" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references)

Synonyms: Contradictory

Contrariety

Adjective: contrary, contrarious, contrariant; opposite, counter, dead against; converse, reverse; opposed, antithetical, contrasted, antipodean, antagonistic, opposing; conflicting, inconsistent, contradictory, at cross purposes; negative; hostile. differing toto coelo; diametrically opposite; diametrically opposed; as opposite as black and white, as opposite as light and darkness, as opposite as fire and water, as opposite as the poles; as different as night and day; " Hyperion to a satyr"; quite the contrary, quite the reverse;no such thing, just the other way, tout au contraire.

Evidence

Noun: counter evidence; evidence on the other side, evidence on the other hand; conflicting evidence, contradictory evidence, opposing evidence; disproof, refutation; negation.

Adjective: countervailing; Verb: contradictory.

Negation

Adjective: denying;Verb: denied;Verb: contradictory; negative, negatory; recusant; (dissenting); at issue upon.

Crosswords: Contradictory

'A closer look at the file and independent research by this newspaper into its key claims indicate that many of the serious accusations against Mr Wigand are backed by scant or contradictory evidence'. (The Insider; writing credit: Eric Roth)

I loved all the people, dealing with all the contradictory impulses - that's what I loved the most, connecting with the people. (Waking Life; writing credit: Richard Linklater)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Contradictory Characters: An Interpretation of the Modern Theatre (reference)

• Contradictory Subjects: Quevedo, Cervantes, and Seventeenth Century Spanish Culture (reference)

• Democratic Ideals and the Valuing of Knowledge in American Education: Two Contradictory Tendencies (Mellen Studies in Education, Vol 8) (reference)

• Double Bind: Escaping the Contradictory Demands of Manhood (reference)

• Just the Facts - A Case for Impeachment: Over 200 Documented Lies, Misrepresentations & Contradictory Statements by William Jefferson Clinton (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

And, bitter anguish, these two roads were contradictory.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

The evidence is contradictory concerning whether concurrent medical illness has an adverse effect on response to pharmacotherapy. (references)

Evidence from human studies on both the short and long-term adverse effects of repeat doses of corticosteroids is contradictory and therefore inconclusive. (references)

While many studies have been conducted to assess the effects of early intervention, the information is limited and contradictory regarding the long-term success of early intervention for children with Down syndrome. (references)

Business

A key element of Law 173, a law of public order, are its terms that prevail over contradictory terms in any agreement between private parties. (references)

Children

Pakistan

In 1999 one member of the Prime Minister's education task force estimated that up to 50 percent of the education budget is "pilfered." Information about progress in educating girls is contradictory. (references)

Civil Liberties

Latvia

Independent human rights organizations argue that the law's provisions are contradictory and confusing. (references)

Nicaragua

The remaining 20 articles were either contradictory or meaningless, as they related to the vetoed articles. (references)

Economic History

Kazakhstan

Often, contradictory norms hinder the functioning of the legal system. (references)

Costa Rica

Also, civil archives recording land title are at times incomplete or contradictory. (references)

Honduras

Laws and regulations pertaining to property titles in Honduras are unclear and even contradictory. (references)

Human Rights

Pakistan

Many observers criticized the Supreme Court decision as vague and contradictory. (references)

Ghana

Some police officers gave contradictory testimony regarding the use of tear gas at the stadium. (references)

China

Differing interpretations of the law taken by different judicial and police departments have contributed to contradictory and incomplete implementation. (references)

Political Economy

PAKISTAN

The biggest challenges facing American firms in Pakistan have been inconsistent and sometimes contradictory policies and security threats in some parts of the country. (references)

RUSSIA

Despite the passage of a revised law regulating foreign investment in June 1999, Russian foreign investment regulations and notification requirements can be confusing and contradictory. (references)

Trade

Egypt

Any contradictory instruction is to be superseded. (references)

Women

Mozambique

A contradictory provision of the law states that a widow is entitled to one-half of those goods that are acquired during the marriage, but in practice women rarely know of or demand this right. (references)

Worker Rights

Kyrgyz Republic

The minimum age for employment varies with the type of work, but is no lower than 14. The Labor Code is contradictory in the requirements it sets for the minimum age of employment of youths in work that could harm their physical and moral well being (i.e. employment in casinos, bars, night clubs, etc.). Article 285 states that such work is prohibited for those under age 21; however, Article 319 prohibits such employment for those under age 18. According to the Labor Code, children between ages 14 and 16 are permitted to perform strenuous work with parental consent. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "contradictory": be contradictory ♦ contradictory procedure. Additional references.

Ending with "contradictory": non-contradictory.

Albanian

kundërshtues (averse, contentious, controversial, deprecative, dissentient, objector, reactionary, recusant, refractory), kontradiktor (conflicting, inconsistent, irreconcilable, paradoxical). (various references)

Arabic 

‏متناقض (antithetic, antithetical, conflicting, contradictious, irreconcilable, paradoxical), ‏مختلف (contrastive, different, discrepant, disparate, dissimilar, distinct, diverse, diversified, several, sundry, unlike, variant, various), ‏نقيض (anti, antipode, antithesis, mis-, negation, opposite, reverse). (various references)

Bulgarian 

опровержение (contradiction, denial, disclaimer, disproof, rebuttal, refutation), нещо което противоречи на друго, заядлив (argumentative, bellicose, captious, carping, combative, contradictious, currish, doggish, mordant, nagging, peevish, provoking, spleenful, troublesome, vixenish), противоречив (ambivalent, conflicting, contradictious, contrary, discrepant, self-contradictory, warring). (various references)

Chinese 

矛盾 (contradiction). (various references)

Czech

rozporný (conflicting, dissentient, eristic, inconsistent), protikladný (antagonistic, antithetic, conflicting, contrary, contrasting), protichùdný (conflicting, divergent, reverse), nesluèitelný (incompatible, irreconsilable). (various references)

Danish

kontradiktorisk procedure (contradictory procedure, procedure in which both parties are heard), høring (consultation, contradictory procedure, hearing). (various references)

Dutch

contradictoire procedure (contradictory procedure). (various references)

Finnish

ristiriitainen (conflicting). (various references)

French

contradictoire (conflicting, contradictious, contradictor, contrary). (various references)

German

widerspruchsvoll, widersprüchliche, widersprüchlich (conflicting, contradictorily, inconsistent, inconsistently, paradoxical, self-contradictory). (various references)

Greek 

αναιρετικόσ, αντιφατικόσ (conflicting). (various references)

Hebrew 

�"פכי (opposite, reverse), סותר (conflicting, incompatible, inconsistent), � �'�"י (adverse, contrary, counter-, opposite). (various references)

Hungarian

ellentétes (adversary, adversative, adverse, antagonistic, antithetic, antithetical, conflicting, contrary, converse, counteractive, cross, inverse, jarring, obverse, opposed, opposite, retrograde, reverse, to hunt counter), ellentmondó (conflicting, contradictious, contradictor, inconsistent, inconsonant, perverse, thwarting). (various references)

Italian

contraddittorio (conflicting, cross examination, self-contradictory). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

否定的 (negative). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ひていてき (negative). (various references)

Korean 

모순된. (various references)

Manx

noi y cheilley (clashing, opposing), meechoardailagh (disagreeing, discordant, imcompatible). (various references)

Pig Latin

ontradictorycay

Portuguese

contraditor (opponent), contraditório (conflicting, contradictious, discordant), posição (billet, circumstances, condition, design, diagram, emplacement, flag-station, footing, level, lie, location, plan, plane, plant, position, ranking, see, set, situation, stance, station, status), incongruente (absurd, ill-placed, incongruous, inconsecutive, inconsequent), incompatível (antipathetic, antipathetical, repugnant, uncongenial, unsuitable, warring), incoerente (disconnected, incoherent, inconsistent, rigmarole), importância relativa (materiality), estado legal (status). (various references)

Romanian

contradictoriu (antithetic, antithetical, conflicting, contradictious, discrepant, warring). (various references)

Russian 

противоречивый (conflicting, contradictious, inconsistent, irreconcilable, warring, wry). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

protivrečan (discordant, discrepant, inconsistent), kontradiktoran. (various references)

Spanish

contradictorio (conflicting, contradictious, self-contradictory), contradictor (contradictor), de contradictor. (various references)

Swedish

oförenlig (alien, discordant, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, irreconcilable), motsägelselusten, motsägande (conflicting, contradictious, discrepant, inconsistent, self-contradictory), kontradiktorisk. (various references)

Turkish

tutarsız (abrupt, as thin as a wafer, choppy, conflicting, contradictious, desultory, disconnected, discursive, disjointed, double-minded, incoherent, inconsequent, inconsequential, inconsistent, precarious, rambling, unconnected, wafer-thin, wayward), ters (acrimonious, adverse, agley, Amiss, awkward, awry, backward, backwards, bad tempered, bloody minded, churlish, contrary, converse, counter, crabbed, cranky, curt, cussed, dour, face down, fractious, fretful, Froward, frowning, grumpy, ill natured, illegitimate, indecorous, inimical, inverse, inversely, inverted, mis-, negative, off, opposing, opposite, perverse, retro-, reverse, snuffy, sub-, unfavorable, unfavourable, upside down, versed, wayward, wrong, wrongly), karşıt (adverse, anti-, antipathetic, antipathetical, antithetic, antithetical, athwart, contra, contra-, contrary, converse, cross, inimical, jarring, objector, opponent, opposed, opposite, reciprocal, reciprocating, reverse), aykırı (anomalous, anti-, antithetic, antithetical, athwart, contradictious, counter, crossways, crosswise, gainst, heterodox, impolitic, incongruous, inconsistent, repugnant, thwart, transverse), çelişkili iddia, çelişkili (conflicting, contradictious). (various references)

Turkmen 

gapma-garюy. (various references)

Ukrainian

суперечливе твердження, суперечливий (antinomic, antinomical, conflicting, contradictious, discrepant, dissonant, irreconcilable, repugnant, self-contradictory, warring), невідповідний (anomalous, discrepant, disharmonious, inadequate, inappropriate, incoherent, incommensurate, incongruous, unequal). (various references)

Vietnamese 

trái ngược hay cãi lại, mâu thuẫn (conflicting, jarring, unreconcilable), lời nói trái lại lời cãi lại, hay lý sự cùn (contradictious). (various references)

Derivations

Words ending with "contradictory": noncontradictory. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Contradictory" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: contradictry, contradict'ry, contridictory. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: contradictor.

-3 letters: contractor, contradict.

-4 letters: accordion, concordat.

-5 letters: acrodont, atrocity, cancroid, carrotin, cartoony, caryotin, citatory, coaction, contract, contrary, coracoid, coronary, cratonic, cryotron, cyanotic, dictator, dotation, draconic, narcotic, nitrator, octonary, ordinary, rotation, rotatory, tandoori, tornadic, traction, traditor, trictrac.

+2 letters: contradictorily.

+3 letters: noncontradictory.