Contrary vs Opposite - What's the difference?
contrary | opposite |
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.
Located directly across from something else, or from each other.
Facing in the other direction.
Of either of two complementary or mutually exclusive things.
Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; repugnant; antagonistic.
* Dryden
* John Locke
Something opposite or contrary to another.
An opponent.
An antonym.
(mathematics) An additive inverse.
In an opposite position.
Facing, or across from.
:
*
*:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
In a complementary role to.
:
Opposite is a synonym of contrary.
As adjectives the difference between contrary and opposite
is that contrary is opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse while opposite is located directly across from something else, or from each other.As adverbs the difference between contrary and opposite
is that contrary is contrarily while opposite is in an opposite position.As nouns the difference between contrary and opposite
is that contrary is the opposite while opposite is something opposite or contrary to another.As a verb contrary
is to oppose; to frustrate.As a preposition opposite is
facing, or across from.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
* * * *opposite
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (archaic)Adjective
(-)- She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.
- They were moving in opposite directions.
- He has a lot of success with the opposite sex.
- Novels, by which the reader is misled into another sort of pieasure opposite to that which is designed in an epic poem.
- Particles of speech have divers, and sometimes almost opposite , significations.
Derived terms
* opposite sexNoun
(en noun)- "Up" is the opposite of "down".
Derived terms
* opposites attractAdverb
(-)- I was on my seat and she stood opposite .