Crossword clues for contrary
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Contrary \Con"tra*ry\, n.; pl. Contraries.
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A thing that is of contrary or opposite qualities.
No contraries hold more antipathy Than I and such a knave.
--Shak. An opponent; an enemy. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.the opposite; a proposition, fact, or condition incompatible with another; as, slender proofs which rather show the contrary. See Converse, n., 1.
--Locke.-
(Logic) See Contraries.
On the contrary, in opposition; on the other hand.
--Swift.To the contrary, to an opposite purpose or intent; on the other side. ``They did it, not for want of instruction to the contrary.''
--Bp. Stillingfleet.
Contrary \Con"tra*ry\, v. t. [F. contrarier. See Contrary, a.] To contradict or oppose; to thwart. [Obs.]
I was advised not to contrary the king.
--Bp. Latimer.
Contrary \Con"tra*ry\ (? or ?; 48), a. [OE. contrarie, contraire, F. contraire, fr. L. contrarius, fr. contra. See Contra-.]
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Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse; as, contrary winds.
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me.
--Lev. xxvi. 21.We have lost our labor; they are gone a contrary way.
--Shak. -
Opposed; contradictory; repugnant; inconsistent.
Fame, if not double-faced, is double mouthed, And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds.
--Milton.The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.
--Whewell. Given to opposition; perverse; forward; wayward; as, a contrary disposition; a contrary child.
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(Logic) Affirming the opposite; so opposed as to destroy each other; as, contrary propositions.
Contrary motion (Mus.), the progression of parts in opposite directions, one ascending, the other descending.
Syn: Adverse; repugnant; hostile; inimical; discordant; inconsistent.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-14c., from Anglo-French contrarie, from Latin contrarius "opposite, opposed," from contra "against" (see contra).\n\nIf we take the statement All men are mortal, its contrary is Not all men are mortal, its converse is All mortal beings are men, & its opposite is No men are mortal. The contrary, however, does not exclude the opposite, but includes it as its most extreme form. Thus This is white has only one opposite, This is black, but many contraries, as This is not white, This is coloured, This is dirty, This is black; & whether the last form is called the contrary, or more emphatically the opposite, is usually indifferent. But to apply the opposite to a mere contrary (e.g. to I did not hit him in relation to I hit him, which has no opposite), or to the converse (e.g. to He hit me in relation to I hit him, to which it is neither contrary nor opposite), is a looseness that may easily result in misunderstanding; the temptation to go wrong is intelligible when it is remembered that with certain types of sentence (A exceeds B) the converse & the opposite are identical (B exceeds A).
[Fowler]
\nAs a noun from late 13c. Related: Contrarily; contrariwise.Wiktionary
1 opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse. 2 Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent. 3 Given to opposition; perverse; wayward. adv. contrarily n. 1 The opposite. 2 One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true. v
1 (context obsolete English) To oppose; to frustrate. 2 (context obsolete English) To impugn. 3 (context obsolete English) To contradict (someone or something).
WordNet
adj. very opposed in nature or character or purpose; "acts contrary to our code of ethics"; "the facts point to a contrary conclusion"
of words or propositions so related that both cannot be true but both may be false; "`hot' and `cold' are contrary terms"
resistant to guidance or discipline; "Mary Mary quite contrary"; "an obstinate child with a violent temper"; "a perverse mood"; "wayward behavior" [syn: obstinate, perverse, wayward]
in an opposing direction; "adverse currents"; "a contrary wind" [syn: adverse]
n. a relation of direct opposition; "we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true" [syn: reverse, opposite]
exact opposition; "public opinion to the contrary he is not guilty"
two propositions are contraries if both cannot be true but both can be false
Wikipedia
Contrary may refer to:
- Contrary (comics), a character from Malibu Comics' Ultraverse
- Contrary Creek, a stream in Virginia
- Contrary (logic), the relationship between two propositions when they cannot both be true
- Contrary Magazine, a literary journal founded at the University of Chicago
- Contrary motion, in music theory
- Contrary (social role), in certain Amerindian cultures
- Little Miss Contrary, a Little Miss character
Contrary was a character from Malibu Comics' Ultraverse. She was created by Gerard Jones and Martin Egeland and first appeared in the series Freex, though she was better known as the founder of Ultraforce.
Though it has never been truly confirmed, it is heavily implied in Freex that the nurse nicknamed "Wetware Mary" (the one responsible for creating the Freex and other superhuman Ultras by injecting babies with nanotechnology) was the same woman who would eventually become Contrary. Both were humans who had access to the advanced technology of the Fire People, and both manipulated people in various ways for their own agendas.
A Contrary was a member of a Native North American tribal group who adopted behavior that was deliberately the opposite of other tribal members. The Contraries were found among the historical Amerindian tribes of the Great Plains. They were a small number of individuals loosely organized into a cult that was devoted to the practice of contrary behavior.
The Contraries are related, in part, to the clown organizations of the Plains Indians, as well as to Plains military societies that contained reverse warriors. The Lakota word heyoka, which translates as clown or opposites, serves as a collective title for these institutionalized forms of contrary behavior of the Plains Indians. When Lakota Indians first saw European clowns, they identified them with their own term for clowns, heyoka.
Contrary is the relationship between two propositions when they cannot both be true (although both may be false). Thus, we can make an immediate inference that if one is true, the other must be false.
The law holds for the A and E propositions of the Aristotelian square of opposition. For example, the A proposition 'every man is honest' and the E proposition 'no man is honest' cannot both be true at the same time, since no one can be honest and not honest at the same time. But both can be false, if some men are honest, and some men are not. For if some men are honest, the proposition 'no man is honest' is false. And if some men are not honest, the proposition 'every man is honest' is false also.
Usage examples of "contrary".
But as Adams found, Dutch talk of financial support and an actual Dutch loan were decidedly different matters, his initial high expectations to the contrary.
CONTRARY TO THE expectations of nearly everyone, Adams did not ask for a declaration of war against France.
On the contrary, it is extremely probable that they were an Algonkin totem, which had the exclusive right to the priesthood.
Laxus bearing a kings name do puffe himself up alledging he wan the sefight but I shall satisfy your Majestie to the contrary.
And, with all due respect, Mademoiselle Alphonsine is not a slut, just the contrary, and she came here not to see you but to pay a visit to my wife, with whom she is acquainted.
Or, on the contrary, would such animals be peculiarly liable to sudden death from the effects of the chloroform?
We believe, on the contrary, that many, if not all, of the higher species of animals, especially those nearest to man in structure and intelligence, receive, when subjected to the torment of fire or steel, precisely the same sensations that, under a like infliction, a human being would suffer.
On the contrary, there is a most notable fact in relation to experiments under chloroform made on lower animals, which suggests that if they had ever been relied on,--chloroform would never have been introduced into practice.
I am not sorry to know that you love one another and that you make each other happy, as this beautiful casino proves to me, she does not regret our love, and she is, on the contrary, delighted to shew us that she approves of it.
If, on the contrary, we study the growth of the Roman republic, we may discover that, notwithstanding the incessant demands of wars and colonies, the citizens, who, in the first census of Servius Tullius, amounted to no more than eighty-three thousand, were multiplied, before the commencement of the social war, to the number of four hundred and sixty-three thousand men, able to bear arms in the service of their country.
He also stated that, unless there was some evidence to the contrary, one should assume that atoms combine in the simplest possible manner.
On the contrary, his idea was significant because it was a theory that explained how chemical compounds are formed and because the idea of atoms with different relative weights made it possible to turn chemistry into a quantitative science.
Phineas Babbitt, on the contrary, had at first upheld the policy of strict neutrality.
Away in the backblocks, on the contrary, one becomes a mere machine, grinding through hard tasks--not a pleasant change while so much is going on.
I am aware you have taken matters in hand belowstairs, despite my orders to the contrary.