Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To assert to be untrue, often by saying the opposite: synonym: deny.
  • intransitive verb To assert the opposite of a statement or idea put forward by (someone).
  • intransitive verb To be contrary to; be inconsistent with.
  • intransitive verb To make a contradictory statement.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To assert the contrary or opposite of; deny directly and categorically: as, his statement was at once contradicted.
  • To deny the words or assertion of; address or speak of in contradiction: as, he contradicted the previous speaker; I contradicted him to his face.
  • To oppose; act or be directly contrary to; be inconsistent with: as, the statement which was made contradicts experience.
  • To speak or declare against; forbid.
  • Synonyms To gainsay, impugn, controvert, dispute. To contravene.
  • To utter a contrary statement or a contradiction; deny.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To oppose in words; to gainsay; to deny, or assert the contrary of, something.
  • transitive verb To assert the contrary of; to oppose in words; to take issue with; to gainsay; to deny the truth of, as of a statement or a speaker; to impugn.
  • transitive verb obsolete To be contrary to; to oppose; to resist.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb obsolete To speak against; to forbid.
  • verb To deny the truth of (a statement or statements).
  • verb To make a statement denying the truth of the statement(s) made by (a person).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be in contradiction with
  • verb prove negative; show to be false
  • verb be resistant to
  • verb deny the truth of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin contrādīcere, contrādict-, to speak against : contrā-, contra- + dīcere, to speak; see deik- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the pariciple stem of Latin contrādīcō ("I speak against") (originally two words).

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Examples

  • Even the word contradict implies a civilized disagreement “Father, I beg to differ with you” as opposed to the humiliating public showdowns many of us have experienced.

    THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE Ph.D. Wendy Mogel 2001

  • Even the word contradict implies a civilized disagreement “Father, I beg to differ with you” as opposed to the humiliating public showdowns many of us have experienced.

    THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE Ph.D. Wendy Mogel 2001

  • #31 – Coldlimptruth – see posts 12, 19, and 27 … they show how Karls word contradict Karls words.

    Think Progress » The Gaping Hole In Rove’s Defense 2006

  • The meanings and inferences associated with the subject (omnipotence = physical power) of a counterintuitive expression contradict those associated with the predicate (insubstantial = lack of physical substance), as in the expressions “the bachelor is married” or “the deceased is alive.”

    Archive 2005-01-01 2005

  • The meanings and inferences associated with the subject (omnipotence = physical power) of a counterintuitive expression contradict those associated with the predicate (insubstantial = lack of physical substance), as in the expressions “the bachelor is married” or “the deceased is alive.”

    Counterintuition 2005

  • But Suong also smiled tolerantly when the others boasted to us and never said a word to contradict them.

    The Village Bing West 2000

  • But Suong also smiled tolerantly when the others boasted to us and never said a word to contradict them.

    The Village Bing West 2000

  • But Suong also smiled tolerantly when the others boasted to us and never said a word to contradict them.

    The Village Bing West 2000

  • But Suong also smiled tolerantly when the others boasted to us and never said a word to contradict them.

    The Village Bing West 2000

  • If it makes you feel good to believe that Obama is a narco-terrorist socialist Nazi Muslim crypto-fascist dictator from another planet, then, hey, it's true (or truthy, in Colbert's lexicon) and never mind that all those terms contradict each other.

    theday.Com - Breaking News 2009

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