Contrary vs Undertow - What's the difference?
contrary | undertow |
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.
To pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.
* 1914 , Denton Jaques Snider, Lincoln at Richmond :
To pull down by, or as by, an undertow.
* 1998 , Richard Gough, David Williams, Ric Allsopp, Performance Research: On Place :
* 2003 , Michael T. Leibig, Mike Leibig Traveling in Disguise :
To flow or behave as an undertow.
* 1917 , The Unpopular review:
A short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore.
(by extension) A feeling that runs contrary to one's normal one.
As nouns the difference between contrary and undertow
is that contrary is the opposite while undertow is a short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore.As verbs the difference between contrary and undertow
is that contrary is to oppose; to frustrate while undertow is to pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.As an adjective contrary
is opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.As an adverb contrary
is contrarily.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
* * * *undertow
English
Verb
(en verb)- Off in a gallop the General wheeled vanishing, And sped his steed away into the blue, When Lineoln now alone let go his speech Which had before been undertowed by force, [...]
- A sense that the air, a sighting of muddy river, or that outcrop of rock so implacably bland in the light of midday, is undertowed by memory.
- I sink because I cannot swim, undertowed to the Centre, abandoning all remembrance of the surface toward the cloud of unknowing, without choice I'm pulled.
- Everybody knows this and acts accordingly; but when you say it, it sounds bad and bold, and makes you uncomfortable to hear it, because the puritan blood is still undertowing in your veins.
Noun
(en noun)- A strong undertow may sweep a returning swimmer off their feet but it does not carry them far from the shore.