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Different vs Contrary - What's the difference?

different | contrary | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between different and contrary

is that different is not the same; exhibiting a difference while contrary is opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.

As nouns the difference between different and contrary

is that different is the different ideal while contrary is the opposite.

As an adverb contrary is

contrarily.

As a verb contrary is

to oppose; to frustrate.

different

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
  • *
  • * 1971 , William S. Burroughs, , page 6
  • Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • Various, assorted, diverse.
  • * 2006 , Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521863575, page 19:
  • In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.
  • Distinct, separate; (used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity).
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
  • Unlike most others; unusual.
  • Usage notes

    * (not the same) Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective may be construed with one of the prepositions (from), (to), and (than), or with the subordinating conjunction (than).
    Pleasure is different from'''/'''than'''/'''to''' happiness.''
    ''It's different '''than''' ''(or '''''from what'' )'' I expected.
    Of these, (term) is more common in formal registers than in informal ones, and more common in the US than elsewhere; (term) is more common in the US than elsewhere; and (term) is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand than in the US. Style guides often advocate (term), by analogy with (term) rather than *(term) or *(term), and (term) and (term).

    Synonyms

    * distinct

    Antonyms

    * alike * identical * same * similar * undifferent

    Derived terms

    * different as chalk and cheese * different drummer * different ideal * different light * different strokes * horse of a different color * march to the beat of a different drum

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (mathematics) The different ideal.
  • contrary

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.
  • contrary winds
  • * Bible, Leviticus xxvi. 21
  • And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me
  • * Shakespeare
  • We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way.
  • Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent.
  • * Whewell
  • The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.
  • Given to opposition; perverse; wayward.
  • a contrary''' disposition; a '''contrary child

    Derived terms

    * contrarian * contrarily * contrariwise * contrary to

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Contrarily
  • Noun

    (contraries)
  • The opposite.
  • * Shakespeare
  • No contraries hold more antipathy / Than I and such a knave.
  • One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true.
  • * I. Watts
  • 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

    * witherward

    Derived terms

    * on the contrary * to the contrary

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • (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.
  • References

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