Contrary (Noun)
Meaning 1
Exact opposition; "public opinion to the contrary he is not guilty".
Classification
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas.
Examples
- Evidence pointed to his innocence, contrary to public opinion.
- The economic reports suggest a decline, contrary to the government's claims of growth.
- Despite popular myth, there's no scientific proof to support a supposed link between eating carrots and improved vision; the contrary seems more likely.
- Expert forecasts had predicted an increase in sales, but the company experienced a decrease to the contrary.
- Some argued that democracy would descend into chaos, but in practice the contrary has often proven true.
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
A logical relation such that two propositions are contraries if both cannot be true but both can be false.
Classification
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas.
Examples
- Life and death are contraries since a person cannot be both alive and dead simultaneously.
- It is the principle of contraries that for every universally true statement, its negation cannot also be universally true.
- In classical logic, being even and being odd are contraries since if one is true of a number then the other is automatically not, while sometimes false ones neutral without in lieu requirement provided aren t affirmed its substitute disputer connotations affirm.
- Some examples of contraries include good and bad, light and dark, or human and nonhuman.
- Being open and closed are contraries for a door's status because those status cannot coexist simultaneously.
Meaning 3
A relation of direct opposition; "we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true".
Classification
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas.