Definitions for contraries

• Definition
• Anagrams (1272)

contraries con·trar·y

Spelling: [kon-trer-ee; for 5 also kuh n-trair-ee]

IPA: /ˈkɒn trɛr i; for 5 also kənˈtrɛər i/

Contraries is a 10 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 12 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 14 points.

You can make 1272 anagrams from letters in contraries (aceinorrst).

Definitions for contraries

noun

1. something that is contrary or opposite:
2. either of two contrary things.
3. Logic. a proposition so related to another proposition that both may not be true though both may be false, as with the propositions “All judges are male” and “No judges are male.”.

Idioms

1. by contraries, contrary to expectation.
2. on the contrary, in opposition to what has been stated. from another point of view:
3. to the contrary, to the opposite effect: to a different effect.

adverb

1. in opposition; oppositely; counter:

adjective

1. opposite in nature or character; diametrically or mutually opposed:
2. opposite in direction or position:
3. being the opposite one of two:
4. unfavorable or adverse.
5. perverse; stubbornly opposed or willful.

Origin of contraries

1200-50; Middle English contrarie Anglo-French Latin contrārius. See contra¹, -ary

Examples for contraries

Then, in sooth, by the rule of contraries, a fall should presage humility's reward.

Action and affection both admit of contraries and also of variation of degree.

And yet, I said, if friendship goes by contraries, the contraries must be friends.

Moreover, if these were contraries, they would themselves be contrary to themselves.

So it is with all other contraries falling under the category of quality.

If one of two contraries is a quality, the other will also be a quality.

Poor Mrs. Elton laid no claim to the contraries of these epithets.

The title of the Donne poem is “Oh, to Vex Me, contraries Meet as One.”

Health and disease are contraries: neither of them is true or false.

He was an impulsive young man, and sometimes he made up his mind by contraries.