contrarian

[kuhn-trair-ee-uhn] / kənˈtrɛər i ən /

NOUN

one who takes an opposing view

Synonyms

STRONG

antagonist

WEAK

adversary debater opponent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But could that be a contrarian signal to buy stocks?

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Citadel said that retail investors are increasingly contrarian by nature, and the recent selling during rallies supports this.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

That the Memory ETF has only been made available now is “a contrarian sell signal,” he said in a Thursday note.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

That’s Parker’s conclusion after he backtested this contrarian rebalancing strategy alongside two others: buy-and-hold and momentum-based methods, the latter with positions increased as they outperform and reduced as they underperform.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Given that there is some rough economic estimate of a stock’s value, regression to the mean can sometimes be used to justify a kind of contrarian strategy.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos