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contrary

[kon-trer-ee, kuhn-trair-ee] / ˈkɒn trɛr i, kənˈtrɛər i /


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.

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It appears that many of these fossils can’t be referred to South African species either, contrary to earlier assumptions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Jackson violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which applies to “any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship,” the NFL said in the release announcing the suspension.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Using Artex for cyberattacks was "entirely contrary to" the developer's intentions, they added, without referring directly to the alleged South Korean cases.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The charges cover a period between 26 November 2024 and 21 May 2025 and allege conduct "in preparation for committing an offence of disclosing protected information" contrary to the act.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

To the contrary, we care quite a lot.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

We grow up to discover there are names in every culture for that — yin and yang, the Apollonian and Dionysian, Vishnu and Shiva, thesis and antithesis, the law of contraries, the dialectic.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

Art is made of contraries, of ambivalence and ambiguity; it never wants us to feel a single thing.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2020

She revels in detail but writes vast, moral poems that help us live in a world of contraries in which “we hold still for the camera, believing/ it will shore up time, knowing it won’t.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2016

“The knowledge of contraries is one and the same,” as Aristotle said.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2014

It was in the nature of a relief to Micky, on awaking about noon, to reflect a little upon the good old adage that dreams go by contraries.

From The Lash by Olin L. Lyman


Vocabulary lists containing contrary

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