Contrary vs Erratic - What's the difference?
contrary | erratic | Related terms |
Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.
* Bible, Leviticus xxvi. 21
* Shakespeare
Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent.
* Whewell
Given to opposition; perverse; wayward.
The opposite.
* Shakespeare
One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true.
* I. Watts
(obsolete) To oppose; to frustrate.
*Bishop Latimer
*:I was advised not to contrary the king.
*, I.47:
*:The Athenians having left the enemie in their owne land, for to pass into Sicilie , had very ill successe, and were much contraried by fortune.
(obsolete) To impugn.
(obsolete) To contradict (someone or something).
*:
*:thus wilfully sir Palomydes dyd bataille with yow / & as for hym sir I was not gretely aferd but I dred fore la?celot that knew yow not / Madame said Palomydes ye maye saye what so ye wyll / I maye not contrary yow but by my knyghthode I knewe not sir Tristram
*, II.12:
*:I finde them everie one in his turne to have reason, although they contrary one another.
(obsolete) To do the opposite of (someone'' or ''something ).
(obsolete) To act inconsistently or perversely; to act in opposition to .
(obsolete) To argue; to debate; to uphold an opposite opinion.
(obsolete) To be self-contradictory; to become reversed.
unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent
Deviating from the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; odd.
(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
* 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA 2003, p. 372:
Anything that has erratic characteristics.
Contrary is a related term of erratic.
As adjectives the difference between contrary and erratic
is that contrary is opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse while erratic is unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.As nouns the difference between contrary and erratic
is that contrary is the opposite while erratic is (geology) a rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.As an adverb contrary
is contrarily.As a verb contrary
is (obsolete) to oppose; to frustrate.contrary
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- contrary winds
- And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me
- We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way.
- The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.
- a contrary''' disposition; a '''contrary child
Derived terms
* contrarian * contrarily * contrariwise * contrary toNoun
(contraries)- No contraries hold more antipathy / Than I and such a knave.
- If two universals differ in quality, they are contraries ; as, every vine is a tree; no vine is a tree. These can never be both true together; but they may be both false.
Synonyms
* witherwardDerived terms
* on the contrary * to the contraryVerb
(en-verb)References
* * * *erratic
English
Alternative forms
* erratick, erraticke, erratique (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.
- erratic conduct
Derived terms
* erraticallyAntonyms
* consistentNoun
(en noun)- The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic , but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.